What Is an Existential Crisis?

An existential crisis refers to feelings of unease about meaning, choice, and freedom in life.
Whether referred to as an existential crisis, or existential anxiety, the main concerns are the
same: that life is inherently pointless, that our existence has no meaning because there are limits
or boundaries on it, and that we all must die someday.

Existential anxiety tends to arise during transitions and reflects difficulty adapting, often related
to losing safety and security.1 For example, a college student moving away from home or an
adult going through a difficult divorce might feel as though the foundation on which their life
was built is crumbling. This can lead to questioning the meaning of their existence.

For existentialists, an existential crisis is considered a journey, an awareness, a necessary

experience, and a complex phenomenon. It arises from an awareness of your own freedoms and
how life will end for you one day.

Identifying an Existential Crisis

During an existential crisis, a person may experience a variety of symptoms, including:

 Anxiety
 Depression
 Feeling overwhelmed
 Isolation from friends and loved ones
 Lack of motivation and energy
 Loneliness
 Obsessive worry

An existential crisis often occurs after major life events, such as:

 Career or job change

 Death of a loved one
 Diagnosis of a serious or life-threatening illness
 Entering a significant age category, such as 40, 50, or 65
 Experiencing a tragic or traumatic experience
 Having children
 Marriage or divorce

Types
"Existential crisis" is an umbrella term that can be used to describe or group together many types
of issues.
Fear and Responsibility
Existentialism emphasizes that we are all free to make choices in life, and with this freedom to
make choices, comes responsibility. However, given the ultimate fate of death, your actions can
appear meaningless when viewed in relation to the bigger picture of your life.

In this way, freedom can lead to despair, and the responsibility that comes with this freedom can
cause anxiety. How often have you struggled with a decision and feared it was the wrong one?
That fear of making the wrong choice reflects angst about freedom related to existential
concerns.
Existentialists believe that we have this anxiety or angst because there is no "right" path and no
guide to tell us what to do. In essence, each of us must make meaning in our own lives. If this
responsibility feels too great, we may retreat into ways of behaving that shield us from this
feeling of anxiety.2
Meaning of Life
If you struggle with existential anxiety, you might be asking, "What is the point of living?" As
you move through transitions in your life and lose the security of a familiar context and structure,
you might question the point of life, if in the end, the result is that you die. Why go through the
motions?

French philosopher, journalist, and author Albert Camus argued that the ability to have passion
for what could otherwise be considered a meaningless life reflects an appreciation for life itself.
If you can stop trying to live for the end, or the "goal," and start living for the act of "being"
itself, then your life becomes about living it fully, choosing integrity, and being passionate. This
sounds not surprisingly like the foundation of mindfulness meditation in the medical model of
anxiety.3
Authenticity
An existential crisis might move you toward authenticity, which may also bring anxiety. You
might have thoughts about the fleetingness of your existence and how you are living it. When
you stop taking for granted that you will wake up each day alive, you might experience anxiety,
but at the same time deeper meaning.2

You might notice that all the day-to-day mundane problems that bothered you so much no longer
seem to matter, and all the thoughts and fears and anxiety about the mundane fall away, because
you are faced with a much bigger problem.

At the end of your life, will any of this matter? Will it matter what career you chose, how much
money you had, or what car you drove?

Major Life Event or Phase of Life

Many people experience an existential crisis when they transition into a new phase of life, such
as from childhood to adulthood or from adulthood into senior living. Major life events, including
graduations, starting a new job or switching careers, marriage or divorce, having children, and
retiring, can also bring on an existential crisis.

Death and Illness

Losing a partner, parent, sibling, child, or other loved one often forces people to face their own
mortality and question the meaning of their own life. Similarly, if you are facing a serious or life-
threatening illness, you may have an existential crisis that causes you to become overwhelmed
with thoughts of death and the meaning of life.

History
The term “existential crisis” has its roots in the philosophy of existentialism, which focuses on
the meaning and purpose of existence from an overall and individual perspective.

Existentialists view anxiety in a different way than psychiatrists and psychologists. Rather than
perceiving anxiety to be a problem that must be resolved, they view it as an inevitable part of life
that everyone will experience, and something that is positive and that can teach us important
lessons about life.

They view the ultimate concerns of life as death, freedom, isolation, and meaninglessness. These
concerns are thought to cause feelings of dread and angst because we can never be sure that our
choices are the right ones, and once a choice is made, the alternative has to be rejected.

In 1844, Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard wrote, "Whoever has learnt to be anxious in
the right way, has learnt the ultimate."4 This expresses the idea that existential anxiety goes
beyond fear about day-to-day troubles.