Existential Depression: When Life Loses Its Meaning

Existential depression: definition, symptoms and causes

It is possible that this depressive typology takes us back to authors such as Søren Kierkegaard or Friedrich Nietzsche. His philosophical current spoke to us about the principles of freedom and individual responsibility, about human loneliness and that very classic concept that is existential anguish.

This last term refers to that fear towards the future, towards the weight of our decisions, the vertigo of not becoming what one expects. Now, what does all this have to do with existential depression itself?

Actually, a lot. One of the figures who has studied this psychological condition the most has been Irvin David Yalom, Professor of Psychiatry at Stanford University and a psychotherapist. One of his most notable works is “Existential Psychotherapy” .

There he tells us about the main characteristics that the person with this type of depression shows. As we will see, it is quite similar to those ideas transmitted to us in its day by the most representative figures of existentialism in philosophy.

What are the symptoms of existential depression?

All depression is a multidimensional and complex phenomenon. Each person experiences it in a different way and, in general, it is usually comorbid with other disorders, such as anxiety. Now, this type of reality presents a series of very particular characteristics that are the following.

• Lack of meaning: the person does not find meaning in their existence. Feel as if you are moving into a void in which nothing is transcendent or authentic or enriching to the mind.

• Feeling of not being understood: it is that of feeling strangers in this world, in addition to being alone.
• Not being able to be realized: because society is limited, because there are no mechanisms to promote that creative, professional, human and civic growth.
• Suffering from social injustices: from inequalities, from the lack of freedoms.
• You ramble frequently about death: there are thoughts about the transience of the human being. Suicidal ideations are also present in this type of psychological disorder.
• Physical manifestations: such as exhaustion, insomnia, hypersomnia, alterations in eating.

A type of depression common in people with high intellectual abilities

Existential depression is integrated into a theory developed by the psychiatrist Kazimierz Dabrowski (1902-1980). This approach is called positive decay and is based on the following explanation:

• People can go through 5 stages of personal development.

• However, about 70% of the population does not go beyond the first three phases. It is a development in which one ends up getting used to the guidelines set by society, until little by little he finds his place in it and adapts.
• On the contrary, 30% reach the peak of personal development and far from provoking more wisdom or well-being, what causes is having to go through a time of existential crisis. They do not feel integrated into what society expects of them.
• This is what Dr. Dabrowski called positive disintegration . In other words, whoever reaches that level is obliged to reformulate himself, to disintegrate in order to build himself again.
• However, it is common for them to go through a time of deep doubts, of anguish, of not finding meaning in anything that surrounds them.
• This type of suffering is common in people with a high IQ; men and women who most frequently show existential depression.

Therapeutic strategies

Can existential depression be treated? This type of condition, like any other type of mood disorder, is treatable.

In general, it is important to individualize the therapeutic strategy taking into account the needs of each person. In this way, there will be those who, in addition to psychological therapy, also benefit from a pharmacological response (antidepressants). Now , how to help the person with high intellectual abilities who suffers from depression?

• Cognitive behavioral therapy is always a good strategy. It will allow us to guide those thoughts towards more positive approaches in which to find a new meaning in life. It will also seek to establish goals that allow the person to achieve them and get excited about the future again.

• Emotional management will be worked on to reduce the impact of the most adverse or complicated emotions. The objective is to ensure that the person continues to develop, but without the burden of anguish and negativity.
• Acceptance and commitment therapy (TAC). This kind of approach allows us to assume that the world is often not what we want it to be. We must accept uncertainty, contradiction and injustice without that suffering invalidating us. But committing ourselves to setting a series of values ​​and goals to achieve them.

Address existential depression, even if it is not in the manuals

To conclude, despite the fact that existential depression is not included in diagnostic manuals, there are effective treatments and strategies to mediate the well-being of people who suffer from it. It is difficult for a patient to come to the office with this approach, but it will be their feelings about the world around them that will prompt them to seek help.