Welcome to I’m Sad But I’m Trying, a podcast about living with, despite, and ultimately past depression. In this chapter, we step into the difficult work of breaking ranks—shedding the survival tactics that once kept us safe but now keep us stuck. From perfectionism to overfunctioning, avoidance to emotional numbing, we explore how these old shields protected us in darker times, but can also weigh us down in healing. This episode is an invitation to grieve what no longer serves you, to question the identities you’ve outgrown, and to imagine who you might become without the armor. It is a gentle reminder that letting go is not weakness—it is radical self-kindness, and the beginning of living more fully.