I hear you about the "psychological toll." This is my first season back after multiple surgeries and a drastic reduction in physical ability. A couple years ago I noticed some functional changes and pain in my knee but nothing too too bad. I pushed from a ridiculously long, intense ski season into bike time and never felt quite "right." Again, nothing too wrong to get me to do anything but take it a little easy and HTFU. In hindsight probably a mistake as I learned the following Fall. Now after surgeries and permanent osteoarthritis a wish so much that I had address the issues earlier and perhaps have prevented some of the damage. It is amazing how tiny changes in fit can with tens of thousands of pedal rotations aggregate into serious potential injury. Very good to address what is going on and minimize problems as early as possible.

Good luck!