Thanks for playing! And thank you for the kind words, I'm so glad you liked it. Hope the issues weren't too obstructive!
The battles were essentially (somewhat morbidly) panic or anxiety attacks, and through fighting the embodiments of those attacks, you either overcome them and continue on strengthened, or if you lose, you continue on, but are disadvantaged the next time another episode comes around.
Ultimately, it was a way for us to break up the continuous dialogue and vary the gameplay.
Thanks again for playing!