LibraryScenariosWhen caregiver identity dies with the patient
Scenario

When caregiver identity dies with the patient

I have been taking care of my dying mother for two years and now that she is gone I do not know who I am without being her caregiver.

Mira
Online
The coach is replying

More people experience this than they realize.

What we've seen

Extended caregiving can create an identity so merged with the dying that their death becomes a loss of self.

Ideas that help explain it
Worth thinking about

“Where Are You with Complicated grief — prolonged grief disorder?”

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