Natasha

“You know, having a panic attack feels like you're
collapsing, like your organs are rebelling against
you, and that you'd throw them up. It's like
you're on a swing ride in an amusement park. At
first, you're there waiting for things to happen,
and for gravity to mess up with you. After a while
of waiting, it starts working, and slowly you're
reaching a frightening height. And it's not like you
have phobia, but you certainly feel things as your
chest starts tightening, you think it’d explode.
Then, it's swinging and you just want to scream
or jump or whatever, but you can't do that.
You're tied and scared and there is no way you'd
reach a solid ground.”
― Nesrine BENAHMED, Metanoia: Different shades of life

“Courage, dear heart.”
― C.S. Lewis, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

“Carla's description was typical of survivors of chronic childhood abuse. Almost always, they deny or minimize the abusive memories. They have to: it's too painful to believe that their parents would do such a thing. So they fragment the memories into hundreds of shards, leaving only acceptable traces in their conscious minds. Rationalizations like "my childhood was rough," "he only did it to me once or twice," and "it wasn't so bad" are common, masking the fact that the abuse was devastating and chronic. But while the knowledge, body sensations, and feelings are shattered, they are not forgotten. They intrude in unexpected ways: through panic attacks and insomnia, through dreams and artwork, through seemingly inexplicable compulsions, and through the shadowy dread of the abusive parent. They live just outside of consciousness like noisy neighbors who bang on the pipes and occasionally show up at the door.”
― David L. Calof, The Couple Who Became Each Other: Stories of Healing and Transformation from a Leading Hypnotherapist

“Real courage is when you know you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what.”
― Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird