Therapy Bits

Living with dissociation, anxiety, depression, and complex PTSD can feel like moving through life in fragments. Some days, I exist only halfway—my body in one place, my mind somewhere far away, trying to protect me from memories or sensations that still feel too heavy to carry. Other days, I am flooded by feelings I don’t yet have words for. The world becomes too loud, too bright, too much.

Anxiety often arrives like static in my chest—an urgent hum that never quite turns off. Depression, on the other hand, is quieter but no less consuming. It wraps itself around me, whispering that rest is the only option, even when what I need most is connection and movement. And through it all, complex PTSD lingers, shaping how I see safety, trust, and even love. It’s a constant process of learning that the past doesn’t have to dictate the present—that my story can keep unfolding in new ways.

Dissociation complicates everything. It’s both a shield and a thief. It has protected me when I needed distance, but it also steals moments of real presence—moments I want to remember. Healing, for me, has meant learning to come back home to my body, gently, without judgment. It’s meant accepting that safety is something I can build, piece by piece, even when it never existed before.

World Mental Health Day reminds me that healing isn’t linear. It’s not about erasing pain or pretending everything is fine. It’s about showing up for yourself with compassion, even when your mind feels like an unfamiliar place. It’s about holding onto the truth that you are not broken—you are surviving, adapting, and slowly learning how to live, not just exist.

If you live with dissociation, anxiety, depression, or complex PTSD, please know this: your experience is valid. You are not weak for struggling. You are incredibly brave for continuing to face each day with the heart and strength that you do. Healing takes time, and that’s okay. You are still here—and that, in itself, is a powerful act of resilience.