Experiencing depression or numbness is normal during this phase of recovery (Winell 23). I have had clients who have even gone so far as to describe it by saying, “I don’t feel alive.” Losing a former faith story means losing the meaning-making method by which a person made sense of their life and the world around them.
I always say that losing a sense of meaning - of purpose, of a point to existence itself - is the greatest thing I lost when I lost my faith. Rebuilding that from secular scratch has been my greatest challenge. It has also been my most solid reward.
