At my last job, we had a 2 day off-site on an island that in all honesty was a lot of fun.
What wasn't fun was the month of extreme anxiety (I have social anxiety) and sleepless nights that led up to it. Up to the moment of departure I fantasised about "accidentally" oversleeping and missing the coach.
It's pretty hard to assess (at least for me) whether the upside (fun) was outweighed by the downsides (prolonged feelings of anxiety). In all honesty, I bonded more with colleagues on typical Friday nights at the pub (yeah alcohol, but plenty didn't drink).
Sincere question - now that you had been through that month of anxiety and then enjoyed the event, would you have the same amount of anxiety next time around or does the repeat experience help it abate?
In my life, I found that "diving into" the anxiety repeatedly helps prove to me (both logically and emotionally) that it's actually fine and reduces anxiety over time. So for me, the experience you describe is valuable because it contributes to overall "liberation" but it may not be that way for everyone.
What wasn't fun was the month of extreme anxiety (I have social anxiety) and sleepless nights that led up to it. Up to the moment of departure I fantasised about "accidentally" oversleeping and missing the coach.
It's pretty hard to assess (at least for me) whether the upside (fun) was outweighed by the downsides (prolonged feelings of anxiety). In all honesty, I bonded more with colleagues on typical Friday nights at the pub (yeah alcohol, but plenty didn't drink).