LibraryScenariosWhen caregiving becomes your identity and then ends
Scenario

When caregiving becomes your identity and then ends

I've been my wife's caregiver for two years as she slowly died from ALS, and now that she's gone I don't know who I am without that role.

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More people experience this than they realize.

What we've seen

Extended caregiving can reshape identity so completely that the caregiver's self dies alongside their beloved.

Ideas that help explain it
Worth thinking about

“Where Are You with Death and dying — the physical process?”

If this sounds familiar, the Library can help you find the bigger picture.