
You may be choosing what feels safe because it is familiar, not necessarily healthy...
- Avoiding difficult emotions — staying busy rather than
feeling grief, anger, loneliness, or uncertainty.
- Numbing — using substances, alcohol, food, gambling,
shopping, sex, screens, or other behaviors to escape
uncomfortable feelings.
- Seeking external validation — relying on others’ approval
to determine whether you’re doing okay.
- Controlling — trying to control people, outcomes, or
circumstances to manage anxiety.
- Living according to expectations — making choices based
on who you think you should be rather than what is
authentic to you.
- Resisting change — holding onto an old identity, relationship,
role, or lifestyle because the unknown feels frightening.
- Self-abandonment — repeatedly overriding your own values,
boundaries, intuition, or needs to maintain relationships or stability.

