The experience of Existentialism & possibly an Existential Crisis

I derived this thread from the "NT" thread (also in General Psychology), where someone made a reference to the experience of an existential crisis.

Wikipedia description: snippet about Existentialism

Focus on concrete existence.
Existentialist thinkers focus on the question of concrete human existence and the conditions of this existence rather than hypothesizing a human essence, stressing that the human essence is determined through life choices. However, even though the concrete individual existence must have priority in existentialism, certain conditions are commonly held to be "endemic" to human existence.

What these conditions are is better understood in light of the meaning of the word "existence," which comes from the Latin "existere," meaning "to stand out." Man exists in a state of distance from the world that he nonetheless remains in the midst of. This distance is what enables man to project meaning into the disinterested world of in-itselfs. This projected meaning remains fragile, constantly facing breakdown for any reason — from a tragedy to a particularly insightful moment. In such a breakdown, we are put face to face with the naked meaninglessness of the world, and the results can be devastating.

It is in relation to the concept of the devastating awareness of meaninglessness that Albert Camus claimed that "there is only one truly serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide" in his The Myth of Sisyphus. Although "prescriptions" against the possibly deleterious consequences of these kinds of encounters vary, from Kierkegaard's religious "stage" to Camus' insistence on persevering in spite of absurdity, the concern with helping people avoid living their lives in ways that put them in the perpetual danger of having everything meaningful break down is common to most existentialist philosophers.The possibility of having everything meaningful breakdown poses a threat of quietism, which is inherently against the existentialist philosophy.

Wikipedia description: Existential crisis (aka "What's the point?")

Existential crisis, derived from existentialism, is a stage of development at which an individual questions the very foundations of their life: whether their life has any meaning, purpose or value; whether their parents, teachers, and loved ones truly act in their best interest; whether the values they have been taught have any merit; and whether their religious upbringing may or may not be founded in reality.

An existential crisis may result from:

The sense of being alone and isolated in the world;
A new found grasp or appreciation of one's mortality;
Believing that one's life has no purpose or external meaning; or
Awareness of one's freedom and the consequences of accepting or rejecting that freedom.

Existential crisis is often provoked by a significant event in the person's life — marriage, separation, major loss, the death of a loved one; a life-threatening experience; psycho-active drug use; adult children leaving home; reaching a personally-significant age (turning 30, turning 40, etc.), etc. Usually, it provokes the sufferer's introspection about personal mortality, thus revealing the psychological repression of said awareness.

Existential crisis may resemble anomie (a personal condition resulting from a lack of norms) or a midlife crisis. Sometimes, an existential crisis stems from a person's new perception of life and existence.

When a person faces the paradox of believing his or her life important, whilst perceiving that human existence is meaningless and without purpose, cognitive dissonance occurs, overcoming many innate psychological and cultural defense mechanisms.

Analogously, existentialism posits that a person can and does define the meaning and purpose of his or her life, hence must choose to resolve the crisis of existence. The terminal synthesis of the crisis most often results in the appreciation of the only true treasure in the world: the inherent self. Thus the resolution produces an insight to the core moral and ethical values intrinsic to our species, made far stronger by shaping in the external world, and now with the strength, judgment and confidence of character to resist the imposition of codes of others.


Personal note: Experiencing an existential crisis or having such thoughts does not mean a person is depressed, per se. It means that the person lacks a firm center to work with and is faced with uncertainty.

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Are some of you prone to considering such thoughts?
Are some of you prone to frequently experience an existential CRISIS?
How major is it? How long does it last?
How often does it occur in your life, what makes it come to the surface, what effects does it have on you / your life, how do you deal with it?

Any further feelings or thoughts on this topic?

I try to find a (creative) outlet and regard an existential experience as a way of self-reflection. I find this to be productive for myself,... and it makes it enjoyable :O.

Originally Posted by skyline

Are some of you prone to considering such thoughts?

I used to think about this all the time. I have now accepted that life has no intrinsic meaning, and I must create it for myself.

Originally Posted by skyline

Are some of you prone to frequently experience an existential CRISIS?
How major is it? How long does it last?
How often does it occur in your life, what makes it come to the surface, what effects does it have on you / your life, how do you deal with it?

I would say the only true "existential crisis" that I've had was a few months ago. It was devastating, and I nearly killed myself. It lasted about 3 days, occasionally "flaring up" for a few hours at a time. I've determined that it is not possible to die from despair, because I would have.
It finished my deconverstion process from Christianity, and I came out with a new philosophy for my life that I am very happy with.

I went through this recently. It actually was a very long process (that might not be over) that took several years. At points it was painful, but mostly just unsettling. However, at the same time, it was liberating. I feel ready to create now and less of a slave to my older thoughts and perspectives.

Are some of you prone to considering such thoughts?

I used try to avoid these thoughts up until now


How often does it occur in your life, what makes it come to the surface, what effects does it have on you / your life, how do you deal with it?

I have had little structure in my life for about 7 months now. I wanted to confront myself, so I basically forced myself into social isolation. When there is nothing to distract you from your own thoughts- no job, no college, little interaction with friends. It is hard to avoid questioning things... everything in this situation. So for once I am forced into deep contemplation that is inescapable.
I have some severe days where everything seems stupid and pointless. But the longer I stick it out, the more at peace I am becoming (although I am going a bit crazy without deep social interaction).My attention has turned away from rationalism and onto experience. But to experience, only through the a rational lense. Pain feels different. The sun on my skin feels different. Talking to someone sounds and feels different. Social constructs seem absurd; constructs like time.. Time is no longer segmented to me, I dont have any sense of time everything just flows. All I know is 'now'. I am accepting of there being no 'point' to things if that is the case. I have 'now' and that is all I ever have and will ever have. My beliefs have become so simplified they all seem to flow into one related idea. A circle or something.
For me it was at first an existential crisis, then I found MBTI and started learning about my 'self'. Once I broke through me I started seeing, But breaking through is the hard part.
Honestly, nothing really has lost meaning. Because I never came to grasp things to begin with. Words are futile, meaning is bound by words. But we have more than words/thoughts, and we have more meaning than words. That's what I have come to believe anyway

Freedom and truth are the things that I think about daily..

"to call each thing by it's right name" + "happiness only real when shared"



THAT is why I live.

/existential crisis over.

Originally Posted by skyline

Analogously, existentialism posits that a person can and does define the meaning and purpose of his or her life, hence must choose to resolve the crisis of existence. The terminal synthesis of the crisis most often results in the appreciation of the only true treasure in the world: the inherent self. Thus the resolution produces an insight to the core moral and ethical values intrinsic to our species, made far stronger by shaping in the external world, and now with the strength, judgment and confidence of character to resist the imposition of codes of others.

To me this is the most important paragraph. I had an existential crisis before but to be honest it did not last long for me. To me it is illogical to dwell on it. You are the one who defines what matters in your life. Allowing yourself to be ruled by this uncertainty is willingly depriving yourself of the joy of life. Why would you do that? Sure shit sucks sometimes, things can seem very hopeless. But what are you gonna do about it? Just sit back and cry? What is the point of that? Everyone gets depressed at times and it will not simply go away overnight, but realize that it will go away if you want it to. Allowing yourself to be ruled by it is an injustice to yourself.


I don't know if this helps anyone but this is how I dealt with it.

Originally Posted by NatalieAnne

Words are futile, meaning is bound by words. But we have more than words/thoughts, and we have more meaning than words. That's what I have come to believe anyway

Freedom and truth are the things that I think about daily..

I also self-isolated during this period (except I had to work). I questioned everything. Everything in my life - Why had I done it? Why did I own this or that? What really mattered? What was the origin of all my thoughts, fears, dreams, hopes, feelings, perspectives? I started to tear everything apart, thing by thing....a long search for the answers to so many whys. What was mine and what had I inherited from society, my family, etc. over the years? What should I keep? What should I let go of? I have now gotten rid of nearly every possession I have. I have abandoned many of my beliefs as well as goals in life. I want to be authentically me, although I don't see it's for sure possible. I want to be completely free and to know truth, but I don't know if I will ever achieve it. So far, the only thing I have found that really seems to matter is people.

Originally Posted by TurranMC

To me this is the most important paragraph. I had an existential crisis before but to be honest it did not last long for me. To me it is illogical to dwell on it. You are the one who defines what matters in your life. Allowing yourself to be ruled by this uncertainty is willingly depriving yourself of the joy of life. Why would you do that? Sure shit sucks sometimes, things can seem very hopeless. But what are you gonna do about it? Just sit back and cry? What is the point of that? Everyone gets depressed at times and it will not simply go away overnight, but realize that it will go away if you want it to. Allowing yourself to be ruled by it is an injustice to yourself.


I don't know if this helps anyone but this is how I dealt with it.

I think there is a difference between whining and indulging in self pity and sitting quietly and patiently with your pain and trying to understand it so that you can truly heal and move on. I don't believe in putting a time limit on that, but I do think you should spend this time productively. I worry about our society sometimes and its fear of sadness and anger. It seems like we don't believe those emotions have a place in our lives, but I believe they are just as important if not more important as the positive feelings. I think by running from them we do a disservice to ourselves. Emotional pain is no different from physical pain - it is an indicator that something is wrong. I don't think we should ignore it and tell ourselves to just move on. I think we should listen to what the pain is telling us so that we can truly come to peace.

Originally Posted by Singularity

I think there is a difference between whining and indulging in self pity and sitting quietly and patiently with your pain and trying to understand it so that you can truly heal and move on. I don't believe in putting a time limit on that, but I do think you should spend this time productively. I worry about our society sometimes and its fear of sadness and anger. It seems like we don't believe those emotions have a place in our lives, but I believe they are just as important if not more important as the positive feelings. I think by running from them we do a disservice to ourselves. Emotional pain is no different from physical pain - it is an indicator that something is wrong. I don't think we should ignore it and tell ourselves to just move on. I think we should listen to what the pain is telling us so that we can truly come to peace.

I believe I conveyed what I thought incorrectly because I agree with you.

sorry,

eep. this post didnt work :D