My doctor said joy can be found in unexpected places. For me it was the Adelaide 36ers

‘With 30 seconds to the buzzer, life – and the year behind me – becomes a blur, nothing matters more than the ball hitting the backboard.’ Photograph: Olivia De Zilva

I tried everything to find salvation in 2024. The ringing bells of religion didn’t save me, nor did a reformer pilates class.

I had just moved home after two years studying in Brisbane where I had cultivated a failing herb garden and learned a new bus route. It was only when I returned to Adelaide that I realised I had no idea who I was. I thought it was a quarter-life crisis, but the friendly psychiatrist in her powder-blue scrubs said it was complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD).