Existential Depression

It’s very common to question your existence and place in the world after going through trauma, religious trauma, loss, a crisis of faith, or any other life-altering event.

Existential questioning generally revolves around four main topics:

• Death, inclusive of the awareness of its inevitability and what comes afterward;
• Freedom, or the sheer magnitude of choices and the consequences of those choices available to you in life;
• Isolation, or disconnection from others and the loss of those close to you eventually;
• Meaninglessness, or wondering what the point of your life is

These situations, and the distress that accompanies them, is normally described as an existential crisis.

When you cannot answer these questions or accept life’s uncertainty, you may feel overwhelmed by the thought of living a life that has no purpose, deeper meaning, or connection.

This point of crisis mostly ends in positive growth, but it could also prompt feelings of despair. As a matter of fact, older research suggests existential concerns number among eight main reasons people list as a factor that contributes to their depression.

Existential depression usually involves some of the following symptoms:

• A fixation on a deeper meaning of life or discovering your sense of purpose;
• Sadness and hopelessness related to not being able to answer existential questions;
• Having no hope about the fate of society, or the world in general;
• Thinking of death, dying, or suicide frequently;
• Being too afraid to die;
• A sense of futility or helplessness when it comes to making something meaningful or creating a change in your life;
• Realizing that the world is unfair or unjust;
• The feeling of wanting more from life than everyday routines that seem mundane and unimportant;
• Disconnection or detachment in your personal relationships, mostly due to your belief that they’ll eventually end, anyway;
• The belief that nothing you do will make a difference, so you wonder why you should bother at all;
• Loss of interest in the activities and hobbies you usually enjoy, often because these things seem pointless;
• Hard to interact with individuals who seem unconcerned about existential concepts;
• Loss of motivation or finding it difficult to make choices, mostly because you feel overburdened by the possibilities.

Feeling trapped in a search for deeper meaning, unable to move forward from the point of crisis, may prompt what Polish psychologist Kazimierz Dabrowski described as a “disintegration” of one’s self.

You could conclude by fixating on past mistakes or choices and feel bad about being unable to create a difference in the lives of others.

Existential depression may also result in your loss of touch with personal values and life goals, and you may also notice your sense of self starts to blur and lose meaning.

This combination of having a sense of helplessness, guilt, and detachment can lead to it becoming difficult to maintain your relationships or do things you once really enjoyed, which could contribute to feelings of isolation and loss of meaning.