Sometimes but the brain also likes to pit itself against puzzels of all kinds. Not distress, though. 

Mine certainly does in procrastinating and avoiding anything that feels like a chore!  

And sad or painful or fear-inducing I'll often avoid by the rationale that it's debilitating and pointless. But something unfamiliar that causes suspicion or anger I'll investigate rather than avoid, perhaps in hope of defeating it or at least fortifying against it.