Anxiety at work runs on a loop. A specific threat triggers worry about catastrophic outcomes. That worry cranks up fear, and fear drives you toward anything that makes it feel smaller, fast.

Those fast-relief moves are safety behaviours. They work - briefly. But because you never stay in the discomfort long enough to find out the threat was manageable, no learning takes place. The next time the same threat shows up, the loop starts again, a little more worn-in than before.

The key word in that diagram is "maintenance." Nothing in the loop resolves the original threat. Safety behaviours don't teach you the threat is less dangerous than assumed - they just postpone the test.