in the way

There really must be something to the idea that the issues we have to deal with - addictions, mental illness, and so on - are demons and have a life of their own, at least in some sense. 

One time years ago, after going through a time of depression/ anxiety that lasted for a few years, I finally gave up and I thought I couldn't go on any more. I sought help and I thought I was going to be helped. But things got much worse. Someone even explained it to me by saying that, because I had signaled to my anxiety that I had given up, it was just taking over. It had me beat. It wasn't going to show mercy. 

I learnt that I have to help myself. There's that joke where someone says, 'I can explain it to you but I can't understand it for you'. We have to learn the lessons for ourselves. We have to work through our own issues. There's no easy way. 

There is a way though, and we find the way.