She struggled to sever her attachment to the past, knowing it was holding her back.

attachment 是名词，来自动词 attach（连接、依附）加上后缀 -ment（表示行为或状态）。attach 本身由前缀 ad-（表示"朝向"）和词根 tach（来自古法语，意为"固定"）组成。 attachment 在这里指"情感上的连接或依恋"，即对过去的情感纽带。