While it’s okay to be cautious about threats in your surroundings, it’s equally important to look at the rewards of proceding if you wish to protect your mental health.

Being overly cautious will lead you to associate cues in your surroundings with potential sources of harm rather than pleasure, also known as “attention bias”.

If you experience high attention bias in your daily life, you’d look suspiciously at the faces and movements of people who approach you, rather than, for example, the cuddly stuffed animals on the rack in the gift shop.