Mine started small. A few flat days here and there, easy enough to explain away. Lately it’s flipped. Most days are the hard ones now, and the good days are what feels rare.
The part nobody warns you about is how it leaks into everything else. I’ve been slower at work, missing details I’d normally catch without thinking. I keep telling myself I’ll bounce back before anyone notices, but I’ve started worrying about what happens if I don’t, and what that means for money if things go sideways.
And then there’s my partner. She’s noticed. Of course she’s noticed, we live together. I’ve been quiet, distracted, not quite present, and I’ve run out of ways to explain it that don’t sound like an excuse.
None of these are separate problems. They’re the same problem, showing up in three different rooms of the same house.
I don’t have a tidy way to close this. I’m not through it. But naming how connected it all is has helped more than I expected, so maybe it’ll do the same for someone reading this.