Can relate. I don't know how, or why, or what I did to get to the other end, but one day I woke up, and it was gone. Years of nearly crippling depression, ruined friendships, hardships at work, nights of 'considering', all finished in an instant. It was absolutely bizarre and wonderful and concerning at the same time.

Woke up and thought "alright this is stupid, I need to get stuff done" and as though it were magically manifesting out of thin air I had a normal train of thought, my emotions were mostly in check, and I had motivation that I hadn't felt in years.

Almost like cracking a knuckle, but in my own brain. GP's comment resonates very hard.

This definitely resonates with me as I've graduated into the state you describe and yes "the only way out is through" is exactly the way to describe the path.

Not sure I agree fully with the "time spent in the water" not seeming bad - I think I simply recognize it for what it was, while acknowledging the trauma and cascading effects that I'm unwinding 30+ years after the fact.

Perhaps you mean that you are no longer attached to the trauma and can view it "objectively"

More important to me now is unwinding the physical manifestations of trauma/anxiety that I never recognized as well as eliminating the behaviors (people pleasing, self deprecation etc...) that attract toxic attachment.