January 29,2026

AuDHD: Understanding the Dual Neurodivergent Experience Across the Lifespan

For many individuals—children, teens, and adults alike—life can feel intense, fast-moving, and overwhelming. Thoughts may race, emotions may feel big, sensory input may be difficult to filter, and expectations from the outside world may feel confusing or exhausting. For those who identify as AuDHD, meaning they experience both autistic and ADHD traits, this internal experience is not a flaw or failure—it is a reflection of how their brain and nervous system are wired.

AuDHD is not limited to adulthood. Many children and adolescents live with this dual neurodivergent experience long before they have language for it. Understanding AuDHD across developmental stages allows caregivers, educators, and clinicians to provide more compassionate and effective support while helping young people build a healthier relationship with their neurodivergence.

What Is AuDHD?

AuDHD refers to the co-occurrence of autism spectrum characteristics and attention-deficit/hyperactivity traits within the same individual. While autism and ADHD have historically been diagnosed separately, research and clinical understanding now recognize that the overlap between the two is common and meaningful (Vanderbilt University, n.d.).

Autism is often associated with differences in social communication, sensory processing, and preference for predictability, while ADHD involves differences in attention regulation, impulse control, and activity levels (Autistica, n.d.; Cleveland Clinic, n.d.). When these traits coexist, they interact in complex ways that shape how children learn, how teens relate to peers, and how adults navigate work, relationships, and daily life.

Why AuDHD Often Goes Unrecognized in Children and Teens

Many children with AuDHD do not fit neatly into diagnostic categories. A child may show autistic traits such as sensory sensitivities or social differences, while their ADHD traits—impulsivity, high energy, or distractibility—mask those features. Others may appear inattentive or behaviorally reactive and be diagnosed with ADHD while underlying autistic needs go unmet (Embrace Autism, n.d.).

Masking can begin early. Children and teens often learn which behaviors are acceptable in school or social settings and suppress parts of themselves to fit in. While this can help them navigate environments temporarily, long-term masking increases the risk of anxiety, burnout, emotional dysregulation, and identity confusion later in life.

Sensory Processing and Emotional Intensity at Different Ages

Across all ages, sensory processing differences are a core part of the AuDHD experience. Young children may struggle with loud classrooms, clothing textures, or transitions. Teens may feel overwhelmed by social environments, crowded hallways, or emotional expectations from peers. Adults may experience sensory overload in workplaces or family settings.

Emotional intensity is also common. AuDHD individuals often feel emotions deeply and quickly. A small disappointment can feel devastating to a child; a teen may experience heightened frustration or rejection sensitivity; an adult may feel emotionally flooded by stressors that seem manageable to others. These reactions are not behavioral problems—they are signals from a nervous system processing the world at full volume.

Executive Functioning and Daily Expectations

Executive functioning challenges often become more visible as expectations increase. Children may struggle with routines, transitions, or following multi-step instructions. Teens may have difficulty managing schoolwork, time, or organization despite being intellectually capable. Adults may experience ongoing challenges with planning, initiation, or follow-through.

Motivation in AuDHD brains is frequently interest-based, not importance-based. This means a child may hyperfocus on a preferred activity while avoiding homework, or a teen may excel in subjects they love while struggling elsewhere. Understanding this helps caregivers and educators shift from punishment to support and accommodation.

Social Connection and Misunderstanding

Social experiences can be particularly complex for AuDHD individuals. Children may struggle with peer dynamics, teens may feel misunderstood or isolated, and adults may feel socially “out of sync.” Autism can influence how social cues are interpreted, while ADHD can affect impulse control and conversational pacing.

These differences are often misread as intentional behavior or lack of effort. In reality, they reflect neurological processing styles. When adults respond with curiosity instead of correction, young people learn that they are accepted—not broken.

Strengths, Creativity, and Growth

AuDHD individuals across all ages often bring remarkable strengths: creativity, curiosity, deep empathy, originality, pattern recognition, and intense passion for interests. Children may be imaginative and inventive, teens may think outside the box, and adults may excel in problem-solving and innovation when supported appropriately.

Recognizing these strengths early helps children and teens develop positive self-concepts and reduces internalized shame. For adults, understanding AuDHD can reframe years of self-criticism into self-compassion and empowerment.

Moving Toward Support and Acceptance

Support for AuDHD individuals is most effective when it is neurodiversity-affirming. This means focusing on accommodations, emotional regulation, and self-understanding rather than forcing conformity. Therapy, family education, school support, and community connection can all play important roles.

AuDHD is not something to outgrow—it is a lifelong neurological experience. With understanding, validation, and appropriate support, children, teens, and adults with AuDHD can move from simply surviving to building lives that feel authentic, regulated, and fulfilling.

References:

Autistica. (n.d.). ADHD and autism. https://www.autistica.org.uk/what-is-autism/adhd-and-autism

Behavioral Innovations. (2025). The sudden rise of AuDHD. https://behavioral-innovations.com/blog/the-sudden-rise-of-audhd/

Cleveland Clinic. (n.d.). AuDHD: What it is and how it affects people. https://health.clevelandclinic.org/audhd

Embrace Autism. (n.d.). An introduction to AuDHD. https://embrace-autism.com/an-introduction-to-audhd/

Vanderbilt University. (n.d.). AuDHD: The hidden dynamics of a dual diagnosis. https://www.vanderbilt.edu/autismandinnovation/audhd-the-hidden-dynamics-of-a-dual-diagnosis/

January 15, 2026

Your Body Was Trying to Protect You:

The 4 Survival Responses

Fight, Flight, Freeze, and Fawn:

Every human carries within them an ancient biological survival system designed to keep us alive. When faced with danger—whether actual or perceived—our autonomic nervous system activates a set of instinctive responses historically referred to as fight, flight, and freeze (Simply Psychology, n.d.; Healthline, n.d.). More recently, clinicians and trauma researchers have expanded this model to include a fourth pattern called fawn, a strategy of appeasement that helps an individual reduce threat by pleasing or placating another (Psychology Today, 2020; Healthline, n.d.). These four responses are automatic, reflexive, and often outside conscious control. Learning about them can shed light on why you react to stress the way you do—and how healing can begin.

The Biology Behind Survival Responses

The brain’s primary job is survival, not happiness (Simply Psychology, n.d.). When the nervous system detects threat—whether it is obvious danger or emotional distress—the amygdala (the brain’s alarm center) signals the hypothalamus, which activates the sympathetic nervous system and releases stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol (AboutPlay Therapy, 2025). These hormones prepare the body for action before the thinking part of the brain (the prefrontal cortex) fully engages. As a result, our responses feel automatic and urgent, often bypassing deliberate thought (AboutPlay Therapy, 2025; Healthline, n.d.).

Fight Response: Confronting Threat

The fight response is activated when your body prepares to confront or overpower the perceived threat. In physical danger, this might look like aggression or assertiveness. In interpersonal or emotional contexts, it can manifest as anger, defensiveness, or the tendency to control situations as a way of attempting to feel safe (Healthline, n.d.). While fighting back can be adaptive in true emergencies, in everyday life it can show up as hostility, verbal outbursts, or overly aggressive boundary enforcement. Understanding the fight response helps people recognize when protection strategies from the past no longer serve them in the present.

Flight Response: Running or Avoiding

The flight response is activated when escape feels like the safest option. Physiologically, this allows the body to mobilize energy quickly to put distance between itself and danger (Simply Psychology, n.d.; Healthline, n.d.). In daily life, flight can appear as avoidance, procrastination, social withdrawal, or anxious agitation that propels one to flee stressful situations. While avoidance can be protective in real threat scenarios, chronic reliance on flight can contribute to anxiety patterns and problems with engagement and connection.

Freeze Response: Immobilization

When neither fighting nor fleeing feels possible, the nervous system may shift into freeze mode. This is characterized by physical immobility, numbness, dissociation, or the sensation of being “stuck” (Simply Psychology, n.d.; Healthline, n.d.). Unlike flight, freeze does not involve movement; instead, it is a kind of temporary paralysis in the face of danger. In social or emotional contexts, freeze may show up as an inability to speak, make decisions, or respond during conflict or stress. This response can be confusing to individuals who feel fine one moment and suddenly shut down the next.

Fawn Response: Appease to Survive

The fawn response is less well known but equally important. Coined in trauma work by Pete Walker and popularized in clinical writing, fawning involves appeasing or pleasing the threat in hopes of reducing harm (Psychology Today, 2020; Healthline, n.d.). This strategy is especially common in people who grew up adapting to unpredictable or unsafe caregivers. Fawning behaviors might include overagreeing, people-pleasing, ignoring personal needs, or suppressing authentic reactions to avoid conflict. Over time, these survival tactics can become internalized patterns that interfere with healthy relationships, boundaries, and self–identity (Psychology Today, 2020).

Why Understanding These Responses Matters

Recognizing your default survival pattern can be profoundly validating. Many people who have experienced neglect, abuse, unpredictable caregivers, or chronic stress report living in one or more of these modes for years without understanding why they react the way they do. For example, fawning, in particular, often goes unnamed in therapy and in everyday conversation, leaving individuals feeling confused about their people-pleasing tendencies until they learn there is a name and reason for it (Psychology Today, 2020).

It’s also important to note that these responses are not fixed or pathological—they are adaptive. They helped you survive. But when they are triggered in non-life-threatening situations, they can create emotional distress, relational discord, or compulsive coping patterns.

Moving toward Regulation and Healing

Understanding the 4Fs is the first step toward developing greater self-awareness and nervous system regulation. Practices such as mindfulness, grounding exercises, somatic therapies, and attuned therapy relationships can help individuals notice when these survival strategies activate and choose more adaptive responses over time.

Rather than shame or minimize your experience, recognizing the survival logic behind the fight, flight, freeze, and fawn responses allows space for compassion and growth. These reactions are not weaknesses—they are evidence of a nervous system doing its job under stress. Healing begins when awareness replaces confusion, and intentional self-care replaces automatic reactivity.

References

About Play Therapy. (2025). Fight, flight, freeze, fawn: How they may look in your child + supportive tips. https://aboutplaytherapy.com/fight-flight-freeze-fawn-how-they-may-look-in-your-child-supportive-tips/

Healthline. (n.d.). Fight, flight, freeze, or fawn? Understanding trauma responses. https://www.healthline.com/health/mental-health/fight-flight-freeze-fawn

Psychology Today. (2020). Understanding fight, flight, freeze, and the fawn response. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/addiction-and-recovery/202008/understanding-fight-flight-freeze-and-the-fawn-response

Simply Psychology. (n.d.). Fight, flight, freeze, fawn: How we respond to threats. https://www.simplypsychology.org/fight-flight-freeze-fawn.html

December 31, 2025

Trauma Bonding: When Survival Feels Like Love

Trauma bond is a term many people have heard by now—especially if you spend time on social media or follow mental health conversations online. While it’s often used casually, trauma bonding is a deeply complex psychological experience that deserves careful understanding.

At its core, trauma bonding is a powerful and unhealthy emotional attachment formed between a person and someone who harms them. This bond develops through repeated cycles of abuse, manipulation, and intermittent kindness. Over time, these cycles create a confusing mix of love, fear, hope, and dependence—making it incredibly difficult to leave the relationship. Many people mistake this intensity for true love or passion, when in reality, it is a survival response to ongoing trauma (The Hotline, n.d.; Reid, 2025).

What Trauma Bonding Really Is

Trauma bonding occurs when a person is repeatedly exposed to mistreatment followed by moments of care, remorse, or affection. These brief positive moments—apologies, promises to change, gifts, or emotional closeness—can feel like proof that the relationship is meaningful or salvageable. The mind clings to these moments, even as harm continues. This dynamic is most likely to develop in relationships where there is a significant imbalance of power, such as domestic violence, child abuse, cult involvement, or other coercive or controlling relationships. The person experiencing the abuse may rationalize harmful behavior, defend the abuser, or feel a strong sense of loyalty or responsibility to “fix” them. These responses are not signs of weakness—they are signs of survival.

How Trauma Bonds Form

Trauma bonds develop gradually through a combination of psychological, relational, and biological processes:

Cycles of Abuse and Affection
The relationship alternates between harm—emotional, psychological, or physical—and periods of affection or repair. This unpredictable pattern intensifies emotional attachment, as moments of kindness stand out sharply against the abuse.

Power Imbalance
The abuser often holds emotional, financial, physical, or social power, increasing dependence and limiting perceived options for safety or escape.

Intermittent Reinforcement
Because positive moments are unpredictable, the brain focuses on regaining the “good” experiences. This intermittent reinforcement strengthens hope and attachment, even in the presence of ongoing harm.

Love Bombing and Manipulation
A common tactic in trauma-bonded relationships is love bombing, where the abuser overwhelms the victim with excessive affection, attention, and grand gestures. This intense early phase creates rapid emotional intimacy and dependency. Once attachment forms, the abuser often shifts to devaluation or discard, reinforcing the emotional confusion that maintains the bond.

Breadcrumbing
Another tactic that reinforces trauma bonds is breadcrumbing, a behavior where someone provides intermittent, minimal attention to keep another person emotionally engaged without any intention of committing to a serious relationship. This can include flirty texts, social media likes, or sending memes—but often avoids meaningful interaction or concrete plans. Like the fairy tale of Hansel and Gretel, where breadcrumbs mark a path, these “crumbs” keep the recipient hooked without a real destination, creating confusion, hope, and dependence that strengthen the trauma bond.

Neurobiological Conditioning and Survival Responses
Trauma bonds are reinforced not only psychologically but biologically. Repeated cycles of fear, stress, and relief condition the brain to associate safety and connection with the very person causing harm. During moments of reconciliation or affection, the brain releases bonding chemicals such as oxytocin and dopamine, temporarily reducing distress and strengthening attachment. Over time, this trains the nervous system to seek closeness to the abuser as a way to regulate fear and emotional pain, even when the relationship is unsafe.

Where Trauma Bonding Occurs

Trauma bonding is not limited to romantic relationships. It can occur in many contexts, including:

  • Domestic or intimate partner violence

  • Child abuse and neglect

  • Cult or extremist group involvement

  • Kidnapping and human trafficking

  • Toxic friendships, family systems, or workplace dynamics

Any relationship characterized by fear, control, and intermittent care has the potential to create a trauma bond.

The Lasting Impact of Trauma Bonding

Trauma bonding can leave lasting emotional and psychological scars. Because these relationships often erode a person’s sense of identity, autonomy, and safety, survivors commonly experience symptoms associated with post-traumatic stress, depression, and complex trauma (C-PTSD).

Common effects may include:

  • Chronic self-doubt and low self-esteem

  • Difficulty trusting others or feeling safe in close relationships

  • Emotional numbness or dissociation

  • Intrusive memories, flashbacks, or persistent rumination

  • Avoidance of relationships—or repetition of familiar but harmful relational patterns

These responses are not character flaws or evidence of weakness. Rather, they reflect adaptive coping mechanisms developed in the face of ongoing emotional threat. What once helped someone survive an unsafe relationship may later interfere with well-being, connection, and self-trust (The Hotline, n.d.).

Why Trauma Bonds Are So Hard to Break

Leaving a trauma-bonded relationship is rarely as simple as “just walking away.” These bonds feel real because they are real to the nervous system.

  • The relationship feels like love, making the harm confusing

  • Fear of retaliation or abandonment may be very real

  • The brain becomes conditioned to seek the emotional “high” of reconciliation

  • Prolonged erosion of self-worth can leave survivors feeling incapable of surviving alone

For many people, the bond is not about wanting pain—it is about longing for safety, connection, and relief from emotional distress.

Immediate Steps Toward Healing and Creating Safety

While healing from trauma bonding is a gradual process, establishing safety is the first and most important step. This often involves practical, supportive actions that help disrupt the cycle and restore a sense of control.

Establish Boundaries or Limit Contact
Reducing or completely cutting contact with the abusive person—when possible—creates space for clarity and healing. Distance helps break the emotional cycle that reinforces the bond.

Create a Safety Plan
If leaving the relationship, it’s important to plan for physical, emotional, and financial safety. This may include identifying safe places to stay, securing important documents, or exploring legal protections when needed.

Build a Support Network
Connecting with trusted friends, family members, or support groups can provide validation, grounding, and a reality check when self-doubt arises. Healing rarely happens in isolation.

Practice Foundational Self-Care
Trauma depletes the nervous system. Prioritizing basic needs—such as sleep, nourishment, movement, and stress-reducing activities—helps rebuild internal stability and resilience.

These steps are not about “fixing” everything at once. They are about creating enough safety for healing to begin.

A Final Note

If you recognize yourself in any part of this experience, it’s important to know that trauma bonding is not a personal failure. It is a predictable psychological response to prolonged exposure to harm, instability, and fear. With support, compassion, and trauma-informed care, these patterns can be understood, softened, and healed.

Understanding trauma bonding is not about assigning blame. It is about restoring clarity, dignity, and choice to experiences that once felt impossible to explain.

References:

Attachment Project. (n.d.). The 7 stages of trauma bonding. AttachmentProject.com. https://www.attachmentproject.com/psychology/trauma-bonding/7-stages/

Psychology Today Staff. (n.d.-a). Breadcrumbing. PsychologyToday.com. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/breadcrumbing

Reid, S. (2025, October 2). Trauma bonding: How to recognize and cope. HelpGuide.org. https://www.helpguide.org/mental-health/ptsd-trauma/trauma-bonding

The Hotline. (n.d.). Trauma bonds: What are they and how can we overcome them? TheHotline.org. https://www.thehotline.org/resources/trauma-bonds-what-are-they-and-how-can-we-overcome-them/

Verywell Mind. (n.d.). Trauma bonding: Understanding trauma bonds and how they form. VerywellMind.com. https://www.verywellmind.com/trauma-bonding-5207136

WebMD. (n.d.). What is love bombing? WebMD. https://www.webmd.com/sex-relationships/what-is-love-bombing

April 7, 2025

Parenting Without a Handbook

            Parenting is often described as one of the most rewarding experiences in life—and also one of the most complex. It can be fulfilling, meaningful, confusing, and at times overwhelming. Unlike many roles we take on, parenting does not come with a handbook that explains how to “do it right” or guarantees that mistakes won’t be made. As a result, many parents find themselves questioning their choices and worrying about the long-term impact of their decisions on their children.

In therapy sessions, parents frequently raise concerns such as: Do parenting styles really matter? What if I was raised by strict or emotionally unavailable parents? How do I parent gently without being permissive? What if I have my own trauma and fear passing it on? How do I co-parent when we are no longer together? These questions arise across many family structures, including blended families, adoptive families, foster care placements, and single-parent households. While providing basic needs such as food, shelter, safety, and love is essential, effective parenting requires more than meeting physical needs alone.

According to the National Academy of Sciences, parents hold four core responsibilities: maintaining children’s health and safety, supporting emotional well-being, fostering social competence, and preparing children intellectually. While these goals may sound straightforward, putting them into practice can feel daunting. One evidence-informed framework that helps translate these responsibilities into daily parenting behaviors is Dr. Christian Conte’s Four C’s of Parenting.

Dr. Christian Conte identifies Choices, Consequences, Consistency, and Compassion as foundational elements of effective parenting. Offering children age-appropriate choices promotes independence and responsibility, encouraging them to think critically rather than rely solely on direction. When children are allowed to make choices, they also learn that choices naturally lead to outcomes.

Compassion involves showing acceptance, affection, and emotional attunement, even when addressing misbehavior. Compassion allows parents to separate the child’s identity from their actions—communicating “I love you” while still addressing problematic behavior. This emotional safety is critical, as children learn and regulate best when they feel secure.

Consistency provides predictability and stability. Following through on expectations and limits helps children trust that their caregivers are reliable and credible. Inconsistent responses or unfulfilled threats can undermine parental authority and increase confusion. Finally, appropriate consequences help children understand that actions—positive or negative—have outcomes. Consequences should be developmentally appropriate, proportional, and intended to teach rather than punish. While children may react emotionally to consequences, these reactions are a normal part of learning and growth.

Perfect parenting does not exist. However, having a flexible roadmap can be incredibly helpful. Parenting with intention—keeping your child’s best interests in mind, striving not to repeat harmful patterns, and remaining open to learning—lays a strong foundation. Counseling can also be a valuable support, whether individually or with a co-parent or partner, offering guidance, reflection, and reassurance along the parenting journey..

 References:

Breiner H, Ford M,  & Gadsden VL. Parenting Matters: Supporting Parents of Children Ages 0-8. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); 2016 Nov 21. 2, Parenting Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK402020/

Conte, C. The Four C’s of Parenting. (n.d.). The Four C’s of Parenting - Dr. Christian Conte. https://www.drchristianconte.com/four-cs-parenting/

March 13, 2025

Anxiety in Uncertain Times

Uncertainty is an unavoidable part of daily life. From moment-to-moment questions—What will today bring? Will things go as planned?—to broader concerns involving political, economic, and social change, uncertainty exists at both the macro and micro levels. It can show up in our communities, our workplaces, our homes, and our families. As humans, we are biologically wired to seek safety, predictability, and control. When these needs are threatened, uncertainty can feel deeply unsettling. For many people, prolonged uncertainty triggers emotional and physiological stress responses. Feelings of fear, anxiety, mental exhaustion, and emotional overwhelm are common. Uncertainty often fuels “what-if” thinking, catastrophizing, and a sense of looming danger—even when no immediate threat is present. While some individuals enjoy unpredictability and risk-taking, others experience uncertainty as anxiety-provoking and destabilizing. If uncertainty feels overwhelming or all-consuming, it is important to know that you are not alone, and support is available.

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted just how quickly circumstances can change. Many people experienced a loss of routine, structure, and perceived control almost overnight. In response, individuals prone to anxiety often found themselves mentally rehearsing every possible outcome in an effort to feel prepared. While this strategy may feel protective, excessive planning and rumination often increase anxiety rather than reduce it, keeping the nervous system in a constant state of alert.

Learning to tolerate uncertainty is not about ignoring reality or abandoning planning altogether. Rather, it involves developing emotional flexibility and building trust in your ability to cope—even when outcomes are unknown. The following strategies are evidence-informed approaches to managing anxiety and stress related to uncertainty:

1. Reduce baseline stress and anxiety

Lowering overall stress helps increase your capacity to tolerate uncertainty. Regular physical activity, adequate sleep, balanced nutrition, relaxation practices, and mindfulness or grounding exercises all support nervous system regulation. Therapy can also provide a safe space to explore fears, process emotions, and develop coping tools tailored to your needs.

2. Focus on what is within your control

Uncertainty often pulls attention toward what might happen rather than what is happening. Refocusing on actionable steps—your behaviors, boundaries, choices, and responses—can restore a sense of agency. Ask yourself: What can I influence right now? What do I know to be true today?

3. Challenge the need for certainty

Explore where your need for certainty originates. Is it rooted in past experiences, trauma, or learned beliefs about safety and control? Reflect on whether absolute certainty is realistic—or even necessary. Often, the pursuit of certainty creates more distress than the uncertainty itself.

4. Practice acceptance of uncertainty

Acceptance does not mean giving up or being unprepared. It means acknowledging that not every outcome can be anticipated or controlled. Identify situations or triggers that heighten your intolerance of uncertainty and take intentional steps to reduce unnecessary exposure when possible.

5. Limit exposure to distressing news

Continuous consumption of news—particularly during uncertain times—can amplify fear and anxiety. Consider setting boundaries around how often and when you engage with news media, especially before bedtime. Staying informed does not require constant exposure.

6. Cultivate gratitude

Gratitude is a powerful protective factor against stress and depressive symptoms. Begin with a simple gratitude list and add to it consistently. Over time, reviewing this list can help shift attention toward stability, resilience, and positive experiences that coexist alongside uncertainty.

7. Practice the “Three Good Things” exercise

At the end of each day, write down three positive things that occurred. Reflect on how they happened, what role you played, and how they made you feel. This practice strengthens emotional awareness and reinforces adaptive thinking patterns.

8. Reflect on past resilience

Remind yourself of previous challenges you have faced and overcome. How does your current situation compare? What coping strategies supported you then, and how might you apply them now? Recognizing your history of resilience can increase confidence in your ability to navigate the unknown.

Uncertainty is uncomfortable, but it is also a shared human experience. With the right tools and support, it is possible to build tolerance for the unknown and reduce the anxiety that often accompanies it. Therapy can be an important resource in this process, offering guidance, perspective, and strategies for managing uncertainty in a more balanced and compassionate way.

 

References:

Robinson, L & Smith, M. (n.d.). The role of uncertainty in life. Help Guide.org. https://www.helpguide.org/mental-health/anxiety/dealing-with-uncertainty

Seale, G. (n.d.). Best practices for managing stress and anxiety during times of uncertainty. Center for Neuro Skills. https://biausa.org/public-affairs/media/managing-stress-and-anxiety-during-times-of-uncertainty