Dealing with depression from a young age has left me with a lot of baggage to unpack and a lot of knots inside my head to unwind. The thing that pops up, time and time again, is me not liking myself.

The way I have dealt with this recurring theme differs each time. I have tried to fight these feelings, I have tried ignoring them, and most recently, I have tried accepting them by saying to myself, “OK, I don’t like myself, but I still need to take care of myself.”