I read a great article about victim mentality and how many people, myself included, play this role.
The poor pitiful me syndrome, look what my X has done, and while it hurts like he##, it is imperative to get up and move past it. If you don't, you run the risk of the downward spiral into depression and prolonged misery. I know because I have experienced it.
The real question is how long do you want to be defined as a victim? How long are YOU willing to play that role. As long as you play that role, you cannot move past this traumatic event and start living your new life.
There is no real definate answer to this, some people take a few months and some take years. The point is to process the information, recognize if you are stuck in the victim status mentality and practize ways to get out of it.
GAL is one way, PMA is another, practicing gratitutde is another, acknowledgement and recognition that you are playing that role, and start taking YOUR power back.
Google "Are you a victim of victom syndrome?" a really good insight into this reality to a lot of LBS.
