Metaphysics aside,are you not reincarnating yourself (your personal identity) on a constant basis? Where is this "self", you assume to be, in deep dreamless sleep?
Is it not re-created or re-imagined again upon waking up,and re-affirmed throughout the day, until it's absence again in deep sleep?
What sustains the sufferer other than the continuous, re-affirming belief or idea that "I am the sufferer "?