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- #325
I'd like to come back to this for a moment.It's common for people to struggle with a sense of hopelessness or helplessness following a significant loss, especially if the loss feels particularly overwhelming or if it has disrupted their sense of identity or purpose.
When I went through a significant loss a few years ago, I tried voicing to the people in my life that this loss had profoundly disrupted my sense of identity and purpose. I don't think the people in my life were really familiar with this concept. I don't think I was consciously aware that it's a common effect of profound loss, either. So, I think what happened is that both the people in my life and I, myself, have been invalidating this matter. Both the people in my life and I, myself, have been telling myself that this loss "shouldn't" have caused a profound disruption to my sense of identity and purpose. I've been living with this "shouldn't" and also living with the fact that it DID profoundly disrupt my sense of identity and purpose.