I didn’t realize it was happening because nothing seemed seriously was wrong.

I wasn’t having a breakdown. I wasn’t crying every night. I wasn’t waking up with a sinking feeling in my chest. I was doing what many adults do every single day: waking up, getting ready, showing up, checking things off, responding to messages, handling responsibilities, and moving on to the next thing.

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Photo by Madrosah Sunnah on Unsplash

From the outside, everything looked fine.

I was functioning.

And for a long time, functioning felt like enough.

I think that’s how it starts for many people. Not with disaster. Not with a giant life crisis.…