I think the adoption of shame, unconsciously or semi-consciously, acts to alleviate symptoms of anxiety. I made this rough argument recently, although I don’t recall the exact words I used.
This would make masochism a palliative for fear, as I also argued.
The flip side of this is that moving from shame to self acceptance will necessarily trigger anxiety. And I would argue this anxiety continues to some extent indefinitely. Those of us who have been cut in our souls want to be “normal”, which is to say free from these emotions we don’t choose and which never go away. But there is a path beyond that, too, isn’t there? Up the hill and off into the distance? Why stop with normal? Why not superior, in the ways that matter, which might well include a vast sense of humility and acceptance?
I have been working hard recently, and it hit me that a key element of stamina is simply accepting that the physical pain in your arms or legs or back, or all three, will not stop. You can’t avoid it, and you can’t get the job done while trying to avoid it. You simply have to get used to a continual dull ache. You have to forget about it, and focus on the task at hand.
Emotions are no different, I don’t think. I think all of us, to grow, need to learn to deal with anxiety. And ironically enough, I think the process of learning to deal with and accept anxiety probably makes it disappear, or greatly diminish.