A gap on a CV is a fact. Most people treat it as a verdict, and that shows in how they write about it and in how they talk about it.
Name it once, briefly
One line on the CV is enough. What the time was for, and that it has ended. No apology and no essay. A dated line closes the question. An unexplained gap leaves the reader to invent an answer, and the one they invent is rarely as good as the truth.
Rebuild evidence before confidence
Waiting until you feel ready is the slowest route back, because confidence tends to arrive after the evidence rather than before it. A short course, one piece of freelance work, a voluntary role with a real deliverable. Any of these give you something current to talk about, which is what changes the tone of an interview.
Your network has moved
People change roles, companies restructure, and the person who would once have hired you is somewhere else now. Reconnect before you need anything. A message asking how someone is doing lands very differently from one asking for an introduction.
Rehearse the awkward question
You will be asked about the gap. Answer in two sentences and move to the present: what you did, what you learned, what you are looking for now. The interviewer is usually not testing your reason. They are checking whether it still weighs on you.
