02/03/2026
Research shows that chronic emotional stress — especially in relationships where boundaries are repeatedly crossed — keeps the body in a state of threat. Over time, this doesn’t just affect mood; it impacts identity, clarity, and mental health. The body starts to carry what the mind keeps trying to justify.
Sometimes it’s a friendship marked by imbalance.
A role that demands constant self-sacrifice.
A family dynamic where limits are ignored.
Or a relationship where your presence is tolerated, but your needs are not.
We stay because we’re wired for connection.
We keep giving because hope, attachment, and loyalty are powerful forces.
But when connection repeatedly costs safety, the nervous system eventually responds with exhaustion, numbness, anxiety, or collapse.
Letting go isn’t a failure of love.
It’s a regulated response to prolonged dysregulation.
Healing requires safety. Growth requires room.
You cannot restore yourself in environments that continually activate threat responses. You cannot expand while constantly bracing.
People may say you’ve changed.
What’s often happening is that your body has stopped tolerating what your heart once tried to endure.
Leaving isn’t abandonment.
It’s self-preservation.
And sometimes, the most evidence-based act of healing is recognising when distance is no longer avoidance — but protection.
✍️Natasha Ann
🎨 Annie Hamman
