Survivors do not delay leaving because they are weak. They delay because leaving is complex and dangerous. When leaving finally becomes possible, it is because clarity—not impulse—has arrived.

The body is always calculating cost. How much energy does it take to be here? How much vigilance is required to stay safe? How long before pain appears? What happens afterward? When the cost of proximity consistently outweighs its benefit, the body begins to pull away.

A woman sits with her head in her hands, embodying the struggle of confronting self-betrayal when coping strategies turn detrimental.

For survivors, these conditions are not minor stressors. They mirror the dynamics under which harm occurred before. The nervous system does not wait for impact. It responds to pattern.