Can you tell us if other civilizations go through a similar period of struggle with negativity?

This has been a characteristic of many civilizations, but not to the degree you have experienced. As we explained, the human is unique in all the universe with regard to the potential, and so the low points are correspondingly worse. And this is the path at present, that you are coming from a series of lower and lower points in your disconnection from love and light and are only now beginning to reawaken and move forward, again. So the best, by far, is yet to come and things will never again be as bad as they have been.