Surviving Myself: Unseen Battles. Quiet Victories. My Survival.
Some battles are fought in silence, no visible wounds, no dramatic collapse, just the slow, relentless dimming of a life you once recognized as your own.
In Surviving Myself, one man traces the origins of his depression back to where it truly began, a childhood marked by abuse, secrets, and the impossible pressure of growing up as a pastor's kid, where faith was the air everyone breathed, and falling apart was never an option. What started as a quiet hum of fear and self-doubt grew, over decades, into Persistent Depressive Disorder, a diagnosis that finally gave name to the fog that had been living inside for years.
With raw honesty and hard-won wisdom, the author walks readers through the moments that nearly broke him: the abusive marriage, the public betrayal, the friendships that went silent when he needed them most, the suicidal thoughts that crept in when the weight became unbearable. But this is not just a story of darkness. It is a story of stubborn, everyday survival, of pressing play when depression jams the reels, of feeding the dog when you can barely feed yourself, of choosing to stay even when staying feels impossibly heavy.
Woven throughout his personal stories are practical tools, relapse prevention plans, coping strategies, guidance for supporting loved ones, because healing, he has learned, is not a single breakthrough. It is a thousand small, quiet choices to keep going.
Surviving Myself is for anyone who has ever performed okay while quietly disappearing. For anyone who has been told they are strong while secretly screaming for permission to fall apart. For anyone who needs to be reminded that survival, even on its smallest, most invisible days, is not a failure.
It is a miracle.
And it counts.
Abel Garcia is a human resources professional with over fifteen years of experience in talent acquisition, organizational design, and people-focused leadership. His work has centered on creating environments where people feel seen, heard, and valued, a mission that extends into his writing.
But behind the professional accomplishments, the warm smile, and the reputation for showing up for others, he was quietly waging a war no one could see. Living with Persistent Depressive Disorder for years before it had a name, he learned what so many do, that the strongest-looking people are often fighting the hardest battles.
A writer, storyteller, and mental health advocate, he lives in Oakland, California with his rescue dog, Mocha. Surviving Myself is his debut memoir and the book he once never imagined he would be alive to write.
