I have experienced most of what you have written about and have taken many similar steps :) The major difference being I would describe myself still at the leve

I have experienced most of what you have written about and have taken many similar steps :) The major difference being I would describe myself still at the level of a juniorish engineer. My only addition and I'm very curious as to your opinion: I think mental health / physical health is more impactful in software engineering than most other professions. At least for me, if I'm sick it directly impacts my working memory and ability to focus. I always tell my friends I could do yard work just fine, yeah I'd feel like crap still but I could do it. If I'm trying to code something difficult often times I can end up making zero progress or arguably negative progress if I'm sick long enough as I lose context of code changing around me. The same holds true if I'm stressed or anxious or whatever. This can probably become a cycle with the things you mentioned that makes it easy to trend downward. Thanks for sharing your story :)