Denial is hitting snooze on a problem. It still goes off. Just later and louder.

Not looking at something does not pause it. The unopened envelope, the grade you have not checked, the conversation you are not having: each one keeps developing while your attention is elsewhere, and usually in the direction you were afraid of. The relief you get from avoiding it is real, which is exactly why it is such a good trap.

Pick the thing you have been not looking at and just look. Open the message, check the number, ask the question. Knowing is almost always lighter than the vague dread, and it is the only condition in which you can do anything about it.