When we perceive something as a threat and then avoid it, our brain thinks this thing is dangerous (even if it isn’t). Then, if we never give our brains a chance to see that this thing is not actually dangerous, it will continue to thing it is, and we will continue to avoid said thing. And the the more we do this, the more stuck we get. When a perceived situation, circumstance or relationship is seen as dangerous, and because of this, we avoid it, then we’re telling our brains that we can’t handle feeling anxious. And then, without realizing it, we are not making our own decisions for ourselves, our anxiety is.
So what do we do?
We learn how to move with ourselves into those circumstances or situations with the anxiety – while using the grounding methods, healthy self-talk and support necessary until our brains realize we are not in real danger, and the situation no longer feels like a threat.