Existential Anxiety
Have you ever felt a strange kind of unreal anxiety that just made you think how weird life was? Have you ever felt that you were part of some gigantic board game? Have you ever gone dizzy wondering what was there before the universe was created in the big bang or made by god?
To question the above is quite normal, but to worry about it, or have it bring on negative physical reactions, is not. Symptoms of this existential anxiety can include (but are not limited to) dizziness, spacyness, nausea, panic, hyperventilation, vertigo and depression.
What can be done about existential anxiety?
The best therapy seems to be to accept it, and and keep saying to yourself “This is only existential anxiety and it can’t do anything to me.” Also I have found Mindfulness Meditation to be particularly good when it comes to simply letting anxious thoughts be there.
Thank god for this post i thought i was the only one suffering from this type of anxiety.
Me too. I can’t find much on existential anxiety on the internet but it’s reassuring to know someone else feels the same way.
Hi, I’ve had existential anxiety since I was 15, I’m now nearly 30. It got to a point where I had to speak to a psycologist about it. I couldn’t operate because these thoughts were at the forefront of everything I did. I still have panic attacks every so often, to be honest I know I’ve just got to live with it. My worst thoughts when I’m in the throws of panic are ‘no one can help a problem like this because every one is in the same boat as me, they don’t have the answers about the origins of life etc’ and ‘if space wasn’t here, what would be?’ and ‘i truly believe life is a catalogue of coincidences’. Ways I deal with the panic: 1 distract myself which is really hard because everything else seems so trivial and unimportant, you must try though. 2 Think about family especially my two kids, they are the only thing I should worry about. 3. Every other human being is in the same boat, they just don’t think as deep as me.
Lee
approx 12 years ago i suffered from depression and anxiety due to the death of my father. When i found out my dad had cancer i started questioning how i would react at the actual minute he died it and it was at this point i started withdrawing from life and living in my own head. i started realising that everything was so artificial and my friend who i met at uni was studying philosophy mentioned this theory of existentialism. this was wot was causing me so much pain. people who realise this are ‘special people’ and even though i felt dread i know i have reached a state that not many people can. a good websire is practical-philosophy.org with good explanations on existential anxiety
i am having psychology to try and deal with my existential anxiety. seems to be going well
lee
im seeing a psychologist over existential anxiety
you are not alone with this anxiety….I thought I was the only one too
Oh, how I’ve longed to be able to find others who understand what I’m going through! This means so much to me. I too started this train of thought at about 15 which seems to be the optimum age for mental problems to start. I am now 42 but it’s fair to say that I have had long periods without these thoughts taking over my life. In fact I had a period of about 7 years without them! I only very recently found out that there is a term for these feelings. Before I knew this term existed I used to put “fear of living” as a search term but it didn’t really come up with anything that hit the mark. I had never found anyone out there with these thoughts and feelings and felt so isolated. What I do know is that none of us are “bonkers” although I used to believe I was for many years or that I would go mental from the sheer weight of all the anxiety and panic. Sometimes I so wish I had never considered these things and feel so envious of people who only have “rational” worries and fears. Please lets keep the dialogue going…
Thank God I’m not alone. Mine started up about a year back, while I was on a mood-stabilizing medication. It scared me. It still scares me, but it feels a lot better to know that I’m not the only one out there. I kept thinking that I’m just out of it. Rationalizing, trying to find something – anything – to help explain it. I think I just need some time now.
Does this seem like what you are getting? This is what my description is of it:
I am seeing the situation I am in (existing, being in this world, being a human)
as it is, without looking at it in the same way as before. Qualities and
assosiations that I have with the real world are all gone and meaningless.
Suddenly I have a huge realisation; the world seems strange and scary. I am in a
situation that I can never understand. Real life problems like homework and
getting fit can all be clumped together in a different league to this one. This
problem is beyond all real life problems. Worrying about a real-life problem
would be a wonderful thing at the moment because at least those problems can be
understood. I have felt it many times before but it always feels new and worth
thinking about because the thoughts that trigger the realisation involve
removing all previous preconceptions and memories of the world. Properties of
the real world which have previously been accepted and forgotten about (like the
flow of time, my own consiousness, spacial dimentions, my vision/senses, my
emotions and thoughts) seem completely pecualiar and absurd. I want to escape
from them, but I don’t know what I would escape to, they are all that I know and
I can’t even imagine anything else. I get a feeling of intense dread and anxiety
because there is nothing I can do about it and I will be in the same situation
for the rest of my life.
I think the only way to get over this is to accept you are in this wierd world, and you can make your aim in life to be “enjoy yourself”. Because that is the only meaning you can ever give to your life.
The Sacred Depths of Nature by ________ Goodenough really addresses existential anxiety from a nature point of view. It teaches you to understand the enormity of the universe as simply the “mysterious.” As humans we like to understand, but unless you believe in God, there really is no understanding existence. You can come to terms with it, but never truly understand it. Everyone here has enormous spiritual potential, see it as a blessing perhaps. Youtube search Alan Watts.
Oh thank you for this post! I thought I was going insane when these thoughts occurred. For months I have obsessed over how life came to exist on Earth and if there is life elsewhere in the Universe. The thought caused such tremendous anxiety that I felt sick to my stomach and it caused Derealization.
It’s been 3 months now since the thought occurred and my anxiety is a whole lot better. I still have slight derealization and the thought is still there in the background, but it’s not as intense as it was. I didn’t do any thing for the anxiety or the thought, it just kinda passed on its own.
I believe that the way to overcome existential anxiety is to center you attention on the here and now – the meaning of the closer things in life; your friends, family, car, fishing trips, good food and wine, nice sunsets, good books and great music.
When I have attacks of existential anxiety it overshadows everything, and all these things become meeningless to me, filling me with an inexplicable fear and emptiness that is too much to bear, and apparently is never going away – there is no running away from this fear.
In order to overcome the angst I try to think of the angst as only a “bad feeling”. If that feeling goes away there is no angst. If I’m feeling good about the joys of life, existance can be as meaningless as it may. At least to me it has meaning here and now – and I can always look forward to the birthday party on friday, a glass of wine in the sofa with my wife as we watch a good movie, or the coming holidays, when we’ll get to see new and interesting places…
Also, I eat dark chocolate. It makes me feel better:-)
Im 20 years old. I find myself depressed due to the perspective which I and seemingly many of you have adopted, although I got of to a pretty rough start in life im doing well and about to start my third year in medicine. I may occasionally have a strong physical reaction in the night when I cant get out of my head which i often imagine is very similar to how i will feel on my death bed but generally it is the depression that is an issue. I can relate to many of the descriptions above although I was surprised to see that wasn’t mentioned much though I am certain that this generates the much of the anxiety (in fact I believe that all fear is directly or indirectly due to notions of death). I don’t feel that therapy would be an option because my problem stems from truths which I cannot ignore, and I don’t believe I can go back if anything I believe I would convert the therapist 🙂 We are not ill we can simply not ignore questions that we can not answer. I sometimes feel like I am losing my humanity. Religion answers these questions (in a sense) but ironically i feel the same aspects of my character which cause my troubles are the same parts that will not allow me to accept religion. For me distract yourself does seem to be the only way to help but it is not always possible. It is most certainly a strange world.
Same symptoms.. i just started seeing a psychotherapist, and ive been on lexapro the past 5 days.. i seem to be better at night time, but when i wake up, is when i have anxiety…
i just think like, this is it? this is life? thats all? i think of space and the universe and just us floating in it .. i get dizzy, and i feel like i cant escape. i say to myself, why is THIS life? why cant something else be life? what i do to make myself feel better is that i think of other life out there, and god, and the after life. seeing your loved ones
anyone agree with me?
Yes, I agree with you and can see your way of thinking…it is a weird thing we have to get our heads around!
i am 28 and ive had existential anxiety since i was a teenager but i have only just found a name for it! i think i suffer depression but i dont know if one leads to another, and if so which ones the instigator. i used to use self harm as a mind numbing technique and now as i have 2 kids im trying my hardest not to go back to it (i find explaining to my family that some ppl get drunk or do drugs to ‘get away from it all’ and i used systematic, safe pain instead, and i have very minimal scars)
im going to read up as much as i can now to help me deal with it as it seems from other posts that its just something you gotta live with.
Hi Hazel, thanks for the post…i am not sure i agree that “its just something you gotta live with”. I think there is something that can be done about all anxiety….accepting it and going with it can be empowering, but paradoxically you can also fight it through meditation, herbs, vitamins and minerals, amino acids and medication where appropriate. You don’t have to be a slave to it!
Im suffering from Existential Anxiety and Derealisation/Depersonalisation, I think these two go hand in hand. At its worst I seem to disappear completely, leaving whats left of myself in a state of panic. This seems to operate in a snowball effect, whereas the more it happens, the more it happens. I first suffered when I was about 21, my recent bout started at 34 (one year ago). Both times it has been brought on by deep thinking and obsessing over the nature of death. Glad to know Im not the only one, and I hope we all get back ‘home’.
I literally felt I was going insane before I read this post. I’m really happy I found other people suffering from the same thing.
It’s been only 3 months of really elevated anxiety for me, but it escalated really quickly; from a depersonalization, I’ve come to experience most of the symptoms of existential anxiety. For a time, it frustrated me that no one seemed to understand what I was going through, then I stopped talking about it completely, so that people I guess see me as the same person, just a bit more shy.
I think a cure for anxiety does exist, even for this type. I purchased the Linden method and I really found distraction works for me in a sense. When I read and am at least a bit interested in something else, I get well for a brief period of time (while I’m doing that activity + some minutes, maybe even an hour). What I’m trying to say is that we shouldn’t give up on this, accept the Universe is damn mysterious and SOMEHOW (I haven’t been able to do this, yet) get it all out of our minds and enjoy life! I second Hallvardo completely
I know, it seems overly simplistic (probably lame) but I’m just a hopeful person out there; but seriously, we all have so much to live for – anxiety just showed us I guess how unusual and pretty life is
I’m 20 years old, this past summer I lost one of my best friends. I’ve always had weird thoughts and ideas on the world and this event in my life really made them clearer or fine tuned my thinking. I have been a “straight A” student my entire life and a sophomore in college, I can’t figure out what I want to do. I’ve never understood how someone could just pick such a thing. I’ve decided I can’t decide because I really don’t care. Everyone has to work for a living in order to satisfy normal needs of this age of living. I don’t care about that. I find myself constantly looking for the bigger picture why does anything exist and why are we here. Sometimes I feel i’m just trapped on Earth because I’m human and the trivial details of life that everyone else is concerned with seem stupid. Religion gives some people this answer, but there are too many and seems as if they all could be right or all could be wrong. I think they are here for people a mental step below me and that religion is their answer to all these questions that we think about all the time. I feel the same as some of the above said.. that I’ve thought about counseling but feel it would do nothing because the counselor isn’t on “my level” or maybe on the off chance they would be and I could inspire them to join my thoughts and they would realize I’m the one correct. I do believe these thoughts have a lot to do with death.. I know that nobody can understand the thoughts or feelings of losing a loved one until it has happened to them. Somedays are worse than others where I do go through radical stages of this kind of thinking and I used to think I was mentally insane because nobody else feels the same way. And if I were to tell somebody who doesn’t think like me.. I know they wouldn’t understand and probably label me as crazy. I pretty much have this sense that people that don’t understand these thoughts are on a totally different level than me. In a way through this kind of thinking I made my own religion.. its to be happy in life. If we have to be here might as well enjoy the ride, Hallvardo sums it up pretty well. I enjoy the simple things in life like good times with friends and family, holidays (sentimental kind of things), camping, summer nights, fishing. I almost think its kind of a gift to think this way because I cherish all those special times even more than the average Joe. I wouldn’t want to be just another one of those that just seem to live through the hassle of everyday life and see nothing more. And if you turn all those feelings of questioning the world around and just live to enjoy.. you’ll realize your a pretty happy person. Putting all my thoughts down like this really helps. I don’t think we should be ashamed for these kind of feelings.. but rather think of it as though we are a special band of people that actually understand the meaning behind it all. In some ways I wish more people were capable to this kind of thinking. The world is weird, we won’t ever completely understand, and live to love and enjoy as much as you can.
Really, thanks for sharing that…I read it and found it very interesting and I think a lot of other people can relate to it. I am sorry about your friend. I am glad you can see bigger things…it’s a gift not everyone has.
Really glad i came across this . I have suffered depression but not for about 2 years. For some reason the last 2 days i have started thinking about what happens after death . Not had any such thoughts ever but been tired and busy over last week. Just couldn’t stop myself thinking about what happens and that feeling of being suffocated by panic at the thought of not existing. I feel like i’ve just taken a step back and feel dis-connected from all i’m doing like i’m not myself. Its a feeling i’ve never had , just that everything i do is so insignificant to the bigger picture. Its like a doorway in my mind suddenly opened and allowed me to think about things that my mind just can’t comprehend.Its very difficult to switch back to daily worries .I visitied a big cathedral at the weekend which many people say they have to leave due to feeling a bit spooked or creepy. I’m very sensitive to things like that then heard something on the radio about angels being there when we die and added to everything else it seems to have allowed me these thoughts. My first thought today was wow just realised i’m mortal and life is actually very short , don’t think i had before really. Now i know theres a term for this anxiety. I suffer regular panic attacks at times anyway so i know its just an extension of that. Been worrying about some daily things and its manifested itself into this through tiredness and bit of depression. I agree it seems to be a way of thought only few have , outside the box (no pun intended). I’m going to keep very busy next few months and challenge my mind so it has no time to wander.Maybe worry about how a language started or how a certain people lived 700 years ago, its a nicer way of being quizical about life. Don’t worry about the start and finish learn and wonder about all thats happened inbetween.Hoping this outlook will aid me.Good to know i’m not the only one thinking about such things though.
Hi, i too have had a pretty unpleasant experience with these thoughts. However I’m alot better than i was now
But I felt i must say something on here which has comforted me but that hasn’t really been mentioned much on this forum and in fact even contradicted. Whilst yes we can call this Existential anxiety or Existential depression, it is in fact not special or different or more valid than any other kind of anxiety or depression out there. So please don’t worry yourself into a state as you think you have realised something about life that few do and utterly ruins it, you have not it is just a bout of regular depression and anxiety in another guise, custom made to trouble you, but just as irrational and more importantly just as treatable as any other ill feeling we feel.
It’s natural to feel like you’ve got something no one understands, that’s the isolating nature of fear, the negative feelings in your brian will do their absolute best to find every and any reason why your problem is special and different to everyone’s. But ask anyone with depression, anxiety or even something like alcohol or substance addiction and they will all talk about that same feeling, the loneliness. Despite the millions of depressed people over the world at our darkest we will feel alone and like we are the only ones grappling with this new incurable problem, because that is the worst case scenario and in that mind state you will always fixate on the worst case scenario.
But trust me it is the same fear everyone else has, we just use different words to invoke it, some people hate themselves, some people feel useless all the time, some people can’t leave the house, some people drink themselves into oblivion, some people fear their heart will explode at any second, some people are convinced they are already dead, some people have to compulsively wrench out their hair everyday, we just worry that the world is weird and meaningless. But at the end of the day it’s all the same negative feelings and symptoms, there is a variety of things that cause it which are all dependant on who you are but yeah as someone on here said (not to attack them I’ve had the exact same thought) they wish they worried about a “normal” problem , i can guarantee you an alcoholic or compulsive self hater has the exact same feelings, that this problem is specifically ruining.
If you still don’t believe me and really insist it’s a special and incurable problem then think of it this way; when we panic ourselves with thoughts like “life is meaningless chaos” and that feeling rises deep within us, and we feel like the only person in the world to experience this, alone in the cold furious nothing of the universe. Well the words we just used to make ourselves feels so uniquely painful aren’t even our own words, we didn’t invent any of the English (or any of other) language, how can we say it’s just our problem when those aren’t even our words we’ve used to bring it on, in that case without language it’s just a feeling we have, a negative hurtful feeling which is invoked by certain words. This is the nature of every human problem on the planet, it’s just a negative feeling of fear and isolation, but we all have to use different words to invoke it, that’s very important. So we say “life is pointless” whilst some say “i am worthless” others “i must drink or i can’t face the day”, “i am afraid of failure” “no one will ever love me” “im fat and ugly” “i’ve probably got cancer” “i’ll never be the man my father was”. We all have different ways to get there, for me it was that life was inexplicable and if that’s the case for you then OK that’s how we do it, but we are not any different or any more at threat than anyone else. When we say we can’t see the point of day to day activities in the light of this crushing knowledge that is a symptom of every other type of fear and depression in the world, “what’s the point in that if i am going to be sad forever?”
And whilst it seems rational to us it is just as irrational to everyone else as other people’s compulsions. I have a friend who has massive potential in his life but doesn’t dare do anything because he will be afraid he will fail, seems silly right? but to him it cuts deep and makes perfect sense so he does nothing. Think about our argument from the eyes of someone else, life is big and we will never comprehend it, agreed, this means it has no clear meaning, ok i guess we could agree on that, this means there no value or point in it,… no wait how did you get there? Why does the knowledge that we don’t know exactly what’s going on here mean i can’t enjoy it, why does it mean my breakfast doesn’t taste good,why does it mean a punch in the face won’t hurt, why does it mean the company i have with my friends is somehow invalid, why does it mean my family can’t really love me , why does it mean this song isn’t beautiful, this film not intense, love not powerful, these times not real, fulfilment a phallacy, why would that mean i cannot live a life that is full, precious, exciting, heart breaking, exotic, wondrously intricate and most defiantly worth it?? What just because there might not be a god or grand design behind it all (which again we have no way of knowing)? why is that important? why does that stop all of human society, an amazing, ancient and staggering achievement full of infinite possibilities from meaning anything? answer is it doesn’t. We are just afraid, we have made the same small yet dangerous jump in logic that millions of fears stem from, we are no different to someone who won’t leave the house for fear of sudden lightning bolts. Everyone at some point in their life has considered the thoughts that devastate us but it doesn’t bother them, not because they are stupid, not because as someone on here wrote “they aren’t on our level”, it’s because our fear is just as imagined and irrational as everyone else’s fears. I’m not worried that that ache in my arm is a sure sign of cancer but to someone else that makes perfect sense, i’m not afraid that putting on weight will end all happiness but many our, i’m not afraid sock puppets but some people are, i am afraid that everything around me might be somehow “meaningless” but there is as little grounding and rational argument for this as everything else, yet it makes sense to me. But remember a lot smarter and a lot more insightful people than us have pondered the nature of the universe their whole lives and it never ruined them, Einstein himself described the mystery of it all as wondrous and invigorating, we are not special in these thoughts, but we are in fearing them but everyone finds a reason to be afraid. But we mustn’t flatter ourselves into thinking ours is better than anyone else’s, that’s what fear does it isolates you, remember we are not alone and not just as “in not alone on this board” not alone, I mean we are not alone in fear.
And that’s not just my take on it, that’s why esteemed and credited medical sites rarely have anything more than a footnote on existential anxiety, that’s why my doctor just gave me the same anxiety pack as everyone else, because it’s the same thing, not some special incurable offshoot of it. You really think if our worst fears were true and we have “realized” a special and unique and utterly devastating truth in our minds that can tear a life in two with such ease, that the greatest minds in the world of psychology and philosophy would merely overlook such a thing? that the experts in the field of psychology who know so much more about the human mind (yes that includes our own) than any of us would just overlook such a catastrophic problem?. In fact i was advised to stay away from any sites on the internet on the subject that weren’t certified by an official medical board, because self diagnosis of having a “special” anxiety without a doctor to put you in your place, is a very dangerous thing and can lead to the panic stricken world of utter loneliness I’m sure we have all found.
I’m sorry if i have come across as harsh in this message, in some ways it’s because i have had to be harsh on myself to dismiss the fear, and it works. In fact i was reluctant to write this message as it’s meant i have had to revisit all those filthy places in my mind which hadn’t been bothering me much recently. But please anyone suffering with this must fight the notion that it is somehow more powerful and valid and important. It’s not, all the symptoms of de-realization, panic, depression, seeing no point in anything, everything that has been described on this board, they are all normal symptoms of anxiety/depression and can be treated as such. So exercise, look at your diet, talk about your thoughts to people so you can see which ones are rational and which are not, and if it gets really bad consult a professional because they will know better than us. There’s alot of help out there for these feelings.
Sorry if i have sounded harsh, im not trying to downplay the significance or indeed the pain of those feelings, i’ve been there and they have been the worst times of my life, but please live outside of your selves, it’s not a “truth” we have discovered, it’s just more fear, and we can all conquer fear, there’s so much more to this life than fear, it’s a gift that we get to ride this ride like we do and to squander it because we mistrust it? because what we preferred some other plain of existence?. It might take a while to grow out of this fear but there’s no good reason for it, there is much better things we could be doing. We are silly things humans, always find a way to get upset, but really there is nothing to fear guys, even dying won’t be as bad as we fear.
(sigh) anyway i’m going to go masturbate for a while, good luck
Thank you so much for posting this, and all these replies are great as well. It is amazing and comforting to know so many people share similar feelings. Yes, existential anxiety can be very aggravating, especially because it stems from thoughts seemingly so far out that you can’t do anything about them. It is natural for us to wonder how we got here, but we must realize we don’t have to be frightened. We don’t have to work ourselves into such a tizzy that we depersonalize. The biggest part of existential anxiety, to me, is that although be afraid and obsessing over these thoughts is irrational, the thoughts themselves present a sort of rational truth.
I’ve been doing better with it, but it can still bother me. But after reading this post, and a lot of thinking, I am coming to realize there really is no reason to worry. We are so blessed to begin with. We are so blessed to be on this Earth. We are so blessed to be able to experience anything. We have to think about how lucky we are, live our lives the way we want to live, and keep on moving.
Meditation is a great way to relieve all forms of stress. Doing it once a day works wonders. Also, if you finding yourself nervous about anything at all, regulating your breathing does wonders. Breath in deep, and then let out all the way. Slow your breathing down and calm yourself. Keep it up and you WILL calm down. Be patient. Eating healthy and right is also a fantastic way to keep yourself happy. Masturbation also will make you feel good, mentally and physically. But the best of all has to be excercise. Taking an hour of a good work out is enough to turn your whole day around. It works your body, clears your mind, gets the endorphins flowing, and puts you in a good state for the rest of the day. Drinking things like tea also can relax, or stimulate.
Be careful with drugs. These can help and hurt. Just be careful, don’t take too much, and realize if things start to get fishy while under the influence you will be okay, and you just have to ride it out.
Once you realize these things you are already on the road to recovery. Just knowing you can do something about something will help.
I am so happy this was posted, and together, knowing we share this common feeling, we will be all right. You have to learn to embrace it. I am learning to embrace the fact, but it can be a little weird at times, and sometimes I steep the anxiety on some other, useless topic. But then again, I am not yet doing everything I can to feel as best I can (eating right, excercise daily, meditation daily)
Perhaps the worst feeling associated with this is the depersonalization, but we have to realize that is a useless feeling, only the product of fear, and is nonsensical and avoidable if you can mantain balance and talk to yourself. As time goes on you will naturally learn to cope with this and understand it.
Remember, life is a gift. Your being here is a gift. Stop worrying why this, why that, none of it makes sense, I don’t make sense, I’m just an organism, what is my mind – JUST STOP AND ENJOY LIFE. Find happiness, find comfort, find friends, and live it out. You’ll be happy you did.
It somehow feels good to read that other people feel the same way I do, even though it will not have a relieving effect on my thoughts. This anxiety has really ruined all the meaning I once found in my life. The irony is that I am still so afraid of loosing it, because death scares me too much. So I am stuck searching for meaning somehow, somewhere.
Stephen Hawking has written a book called The Grand Design, if you are experiencing existential anxiety, then you really need to read this book. He addresses those questions of why we exist and why it happened. Stephen Hawking is one of the greatest scientists to ever live, and his book really helped me overcome my existential anxiety.
hey,i thank everyone for sharing their comments,ive had these feelings wen i was 10,im 21 now and i got these feelings back.i believe in god to get rid of these feelings,but sometimes i get the big queston in my mind”where did god come frm ? and wat created god?and wat was there before universe got created?and wat is space?and how can something be created out of nothing?”.all these questions make me depressed,how can i get rid of these feelings and questions?.and i thought i was the only one.i feel better after reading all the comments.
i feel alot better after seeing all your stories. i pondered in my mind that there are many people everywhere you have experience mostly everything i have and to just be calm. i would also like to say i am very thankful for the internet.
I am SO thankful I came across this website! I have suffered from anxiety/ panic attacks for the past 9 years.
It wasnt until about a month ago did I wake up in the middle of the night in a full blown existential/panic attack. Ever since
that awful night, I have had these feelings every day. I really thought I was the only person out there. No one in my family understands or any of my friends. I am so happy I can put a name with my bizarre thoughts and consistent questions about LIFE!!
I would welcome these thoughts if they did not bring panic and anxiety with them. Why is that? Why do these thoughts scare me?
What is it that everyone is doing to help themselves over come this? Does it come and go? I have so many questions!!
UAO great info,
I had my first existenzial anxety when i was 17, smokin a joint…..i was used to smoke but that evening it just got me. I was young and couldnt understand the feelings, i was seriously lost for long long months…eventually i recovered, socializing and doing a lot of activity, but the feeling came up every few months for a while….in a mild way, light enough to handle.
I even forgot about all this problems for the last 3 years, now im 24 and a month ago i was feeling so good that i wanted to smoke a joint again after 7 years.
And of course all the feelings came back to me in a second, uao that was crazy, i knew those feelings and i was scared to death that i have to experience this darkness again.
Its been about a month and im still not really recovered.
This time im experiencing moments where im completely lucid and dont really understand where the problem is and have hope to overcome this mental crisis and the minute later with the wrong thought im in the deeepest and dark hole, my heart is racing and i think that im going to die.
It became worst when i started to develop anxety because i think that im bipolar, i cant stop thinking about it. its crazy.
This made it horrible.
The last month i developed this mood changes but i think its normal with existenzial anxety attacks, the mood is normal when im distracted or have stuff to do or stay in good company……does anyone have any experience with that ?
I really would appreciete any answer cuz im freakin out.
Peace and strenght to everyone out there with the same problems.
I started to do this things and i really feel much better:
MEDITATION IS GREAT
TAICHI IS GREAT
OMEGA 3 FATTY ACID is GREAT (flexy seeds or capsules)
GREEN SMOOTHIES ARE GREAT
I am glad I came across this and like many of the people here, I am a little relieved that I am not the only person that feels this way.
I think that anyone who does not experience “existential anxiety” has deadened their feelings and their aliveness. I am an educator in this area, and teach about existential anxiety (EA) vs. ontological guilt (OG). I was online googling EA to make sure my resources were correct. I found that it was Martin Heidegger who wrote about ontological guilt. I think that what most people are writing about in this whole page/post thing is an awakening to feelings in general, which is really quite wonderful.
I believe that EA is something different than the feeling that is described by most of the posters. Here is an example of EA vs OG: Say that I have an urge in the middle of the day – a surge of courage and desire- to be brave call someone that I had a crush on later when I get home from work. When I do get home from work, I remember that urge to call my crush when I take my cell phone out of my pocket. Yet rather than call, I decide that I am not going to do that, and instead I will use an excuse, and then proceed to get a snack for myself and sit down and watch a little television. That snack and tv turns into an overeating binge and a couple hours in front of the tube. I have now forgotten my urge to call my crush, and now have a greater justification for why I didn’t, because I am too tired from food and TV. In this example, the urge to call is leading me INTO existential anxiety. It is scary to make that call and be revealed that I like that person, it leaves me vulnerable and it leads me into an unknown territory, hence the anxiety. It is the fear (anxiety) of BEING (existential) in a way that I have not been before (assertive in my dating). However, after eating and watching TV, I now have ontological guilt; I feel guilty over NOT BEING what I could have been. Not taking the step and following my urge, and denying my own existence. I have numbed my desires by eating and watching television. It is sort of the world we live in, and so it is so cool when we awaken to the fact that we are alive and have been living in a rather meaningless way, and perhaps there is something greater, or perhaps we realize we do not have that much time left. It is very upsetting, but it really is an awakening…it is what Carl Jung called something like a call to individuation. This happens a lot in our dreams, too.
I hope this makes sense. I really do applaud anyone who posted on here and don’t believe that medication helps for EA, I think it only numbs the feelings and perhaps causes more OG.
I suggest reading of the existentialist philosophers, or psychologists like Rollo May or Viktor Frankl. Not all therapists are good with this and uncomfortable with their own EA. I guess it doesn’t help the Anxiety go away, but at least we know that we are not alone and it is a topic studied by many wise theorists and philosophers, and just not something to make go away.
Sorry…one more thing…the main concept of existentialism is that we have a responsibility to create our lives, and this leads to a mass amount of anxiety. Perhaps a way to reduce the negative symptoms of existential anxiety is to take that responsbility to create…to do the things we say we are going to do, to create the life we want to live, not the life we think others want us to live, to honor the feelings we have, express them and be the people that we dream of being. This is scary to do, but we are responsible for our lives. I think that is what causes the greatest amount of anxiety.
Nice comments.
I’ve had quite a bit of my dealings with fear and anxiety. It comes and goes–sometimes with the seasons, and other times with how much alcohol I’ve drank. Sometimes I become a hypochondriac and have anxiety episodes, but I always emerge after some time.
Lately its been inescapable. and it wasn’t a medical scare–it was just a simple bought of deja vu, and then i had a meltdown. I went into this solipsistic rut where i felt like i couldn’t communicate. I couldn’t talk to my girlfriend, nor my house mates or anybody. The next day it got worse as I progressively thought about it and dwelled on the anxiety. And now it seems like its stuck with me. I have been feeling like I’ve lost control of my mind–but the ironic part is that existential philosophy says you are in control. I just want to acknowledge existence as something that just is, and I want to be able to live my life without it haunting me. I especially do not appreciate this anxiety. High heart rate, loss of apettite, and I don’t want to say it–but before I read this post, I was having suicidal thoughts.
Now–is this just an episode? Will it last–existential crisis can’t be this intense, forever can they? Because, I’m going to be honest. . . If I’m like this for the next little while of my life, I just don’t what I’m going to do.
(Also these posts have been really helpful, and have articulated my feelings quite accurately)
Chris
Interesting comments and suggestions to a topic that in my opinion does not get enough attention. Please indulge me to offer my opinion on this matter. I believe that controlled existential thinking is relatively normal amongst individuals with an above average intelligence. As far as science is concerned man is the only creature on earth who ponders his mortality and who can grasp exactly how miniscule he really is in this vast universe. A moderate dose of existentialism is actually healthy and necessary for us as individuals and communities to evolve intellectually and spiritually. Be it as it may, existentialism becomes a problem when it interferes with normal life and debilitating anxiety, depression and nihilism creeps in. When this happens we are in fact no longer dealing with existentialism but with a medical condition. It could be bi-polar disorder, anxiety disorder, OCD or major depression and should be dealt with from that angle by a qualified professional. Look carefully and objectively at your train of thought – Are you trying to view a 3 dimensional world in a 1 dimensional way? Are you ruminating – in other words, going over the same questions over and over without finding any satisfactory answer or solution? Do you discredit anything positive about existence and only focus on the negative? Are your thoughts sometimes irrational? Does your brain “attack” you with these issues so that you snowball into extreme anxiety, derealisation and panic attacks? If you answer yes to most of these questions, you are probably dealing with a mental illness but the good news is that it is very treatable with a combination of medication and Cognitive Behavioural therapy. My point is that it is not the content of our thoughts that distress us but the way we think them. The human mind is attracted to energy and any thought that is intense (positive or negative) becomes habitual. The way to break this negative way of thinking is to casually disregard these thoughts without aggressively fighting them and without paying too much attention to them. This is much easier said than done and it takes great practice to regain control of your thinking habits. As I have said before, most people who struggle with these issues are usually gifted individuals and this is just how depression and anxiety manifest itself in this instance. You have to realise that you are viewing the universe through dark coloured lenses and most of your thoughts are irrational and symptomatic of a mental disorder. I always look at Nobile prize winner John Nash as a prime example. He is schizophrenic (which is far more severe than any of the mental illnesses we deal with here) and he used his mind to overcome his illness.
Your mind is like a powerful horse. At the moment it is running wild and creating random havoc. You need to tame this horse and put it to constructive use. My opinion is that existential anxiety is sometimes the result of a mind that is not used to its fullest potential. Boredom or complacency is the perfect breeding ground for existential anxiety. Keep busy and redirect your focus to constructive endeavours. It is going to take time and discipline to get in control again but this state of mind is only temporary.
Finally, and I do not want to sound preachy – most of these existential issues become irrelevant if one believes in a Supreme Being. According to renowned psychiatrist Scott Peck we are all on a spiritual journey. People who question things (like us) are more advanced in this journey than we think. Think of this existential crisis as a journey you are travelling, albeit not always a pleasant one, and one day you will arrive at a place where you start doubting your doubts.
Hang in there, please go and speak to a psychiatrist, psychologist or councillor if things are unbearable and I am sure you will survive. God bless.
I started this at 40, when I first saw an autopsy, and the decomposition of dead people. I started thinking of me being like that, and not existing anymore. Of just being alone, turning green, eyes drying out, maggets eating me. I thought about my loved ones who died, and pictured them like that. I thought about how no one has ever SEEN anything that proves there is more to it. Just the realization that that will happen to me and my loved ones one day frightens me. Then, I worry about getting cancer, stomach ache could be cancer. This could be my time! No. No. I don’t want to go. Then, I started thinking what’s the point of cleaning up all the time, of fixing your hair, of working out etc. To live. To live for what? To work etc. What’s the point if were’re all going to die anyway. Then, I started thinking of ways to keep people alive forever. By stop the aging process, use machinery for body etc. Do anyone care? Does everyone realize and not in denial about pending death? I was hoping I’d live in a time when no one has to die if they choose not to. Stop having babies and keep the people we have alive forever before I die. Lets do something about it. Always reaching for the fantasy life when all there is is exisence.
Although I am sounding negative I do want to live. Glad to have read these post. Thank you all. The one post I was about to ignore helped me the most. The one that said he was about to masterbate ha ha ha. At least he cheered me up and made me laugh for a minute. He is right. If this is all we have lets make the most out of it. And if we can stop death, and keep our loved ones than that’s a plus
My first bout of existential anxiety was when i was around 12 and it has been a part of my life since… I’m now 24, and just tonight found myself in my boxers in the rain, screaming at the night sky when faced with that awful thought of true eternal nothingness… I’ve tried many ways to avoid it (distractions, religeon etc.) but in the end i think all we can do is take solace in the fact that we are, and that we love and are loved, however transient. I think this is a much more common issue than we think, it is just not talked about, because who would want to inflict the blissfully ignorant with such horror? An existentialist perspective can be a good thing though, as it helps us avoid acting in what Sartre calls ‘bad faith’, i think it is above referred to as ‘ontological guilt’, in that we are forced to live our lives to the full and stop making excuses. Ask yourself this, would you rather you didn’t have existential anxiety, and were therefore happy leading a mediocre life? In many ways it is healthier to be like we are, we need the bad to give true value to the good. Life is wonderful and beautiful, however short, and we are fortunate to even get a taste of it. We should savour every moment. I’m off to masturbate lol…