Starting 4-5 months ago, my general anxiety and social anxiety reached heights previously unknown. Small tasks like getting dressed in the morning or receiving a food delivery at the drawer caused panic attacks. I bumped up to twice-weekly therapy, but still nothing feels better. 

I’m supposed to go back to college in four weeks, and I’m terrified. I know many others are feeling this way, which is both comforting and scary. I don’t know if this is a scenario where just jumping in and letting myself get the scary bit over with will normalize everything and I can resume focusing on myself, or if I need to take the semester off to devote time to addressing these non-school anxieties before I go back. 

Any situation-specific advice is welcome, but my main question is in the title: how have you personally learned to differentiate between needing to take the plunge into something scary and recognizing a boundary that shouldn’t be crossed at the moment? TIA.