I spent probably a decade of my life telling myself, "just get through this difficult phase of life and things will get better." But then I'd get through that phase and realize the next phase was the same in terms of the difficulty I faced. My distress and dissociation were constant, not tied to my present situation, and in turn not alleviated by getting through some difficult phase of my life/completing some milestone. I struggled to get through college, but after stumbling badly for years, I managed to complete my degree. And then these feelings of anxiety and dissociation I thought would go away when that phase of my life was completed- they stayed the same or even worsened.