If you hadn't experienced existential anxiety before 2020,
you probably have had it to some degree since 2020.
That's what I'm talking about today.
I'm Dr. Tracey Marks, a psychiatrist,
and I make mental health education videos.
There's no question that the last two years
of the pandemic have increased the incidence
of mental health problems.
That is, more people
than before have experienced mental health issues
like depression, anxiety, addiction, and burnout.
It may seem obvious that we'd all be negatively impacted
because we've been through a lot of stuff.
But I think that one of the reasons the pandemic
has created a mental health crisis
is because it's activated existential anxiety
in people who may not have had it otherwise.
What is existential anxiety?
Existentialism is a philosophy that teaches
that life doesn't have inherent meaning,
we assign it meaning.
Existentialism teaches
that each person is responsible
for their life choices and outcomes.
Our freedom allows us to assume this responsibility
and has two components, agency and will.
Will is the decision to be free.
Agency is the action you take to exercise that will.
Modern theorists came along
and further developed the existentialism concept
by identifying four basic human fears, death, freedom,
existential isolation, and meaninglessness.
If you think about what we've experienced
in the past two years, pandemic precautions,
political unrest, social injustice, and division,
and now war, the past two years have touched
on all of these fears.
Under normal circumstances,
you might only occasionally think of these fears,
or specific events could trigger you to worry more intensely
about them.
Here are some examples
of life transitions that commonly trigger existential fears.
Graduating college and starting a career,
which signals the end of your safety net.
This represents unwanted freedom.
Getting married
and questioning the permanency of your choice.
This represents a loss of freedom or fear of isolation.
Watching your parents die
and realizing that you're the next wave.
This represents a fear of death.
Ending a long term relationship
and worrying that you won't find another partner.
This represents fear of isolation.
And selling a business you spent 20 years building
with the plan to relax and enjoy your money.
This can trigger a fear of a meaningless existence.
In these situations, you can experience anxiety
or worry that reaches crisis proportions,
or these situations can simply prompt you to think
about your life and motivate you to make some life changes.
So sometimes, existential crises
can produce self-improvement
because they prompt you to self reflect
and make different life decisions.
When you struggle with existential anxiety,
you may use other activities as coping mechanisms.
Dr. Aaron Keshen wrote a 2006 paper on existential therapy
and identified these activities as purpose substitutes.
There are things that you do to reduce your anxiety.
And here are some
of the common compensatory behaviors or purpose substitutes,
overindulging in substances like alcohol or pills,
excessive shopping, forming unfulfilling relationships,
zealously supporting a cause,
excessively focusing on acquiring money, material items,
or power, excessive media use like television,
movie streaming, or social media, excessively working.
You can use these activities to compensate for a lack
of purpose, but they're not adaptive or meaningful.
If you recognize that you're doing some of these activities,
think about what they represent
for you or what void they fill.
Taking notice of these activities
can help you identify areas in your life
that you wish to improve.
Finding purpose and value can remedy all types
of existential anxiety.
Values determine what you intend
for your life and they shape your decisions.
Time is a fixed asset, and we all get the same amount of it.
Existentialist philosophy teaches that life is made up
of irreversible irretrievable time segments.
Feeling like you wasted your time
doing something you don't enjoy
or that your best days are behind you
can breed a lot of regret, and deep regret can lead
to anxiety and depression.
I talk in a previous video about how
to do some introspection
to determine your values and what matters most to you.
I'll have that video linked to this one, but here
are a few common domains that people find most
of their value and spend most of their time.
Different kinds of relationships,
like romantic, family and friendships,
career or work,
education or personal growth, recreation or leisure.
One last thing that I want to mention is,
what if your thing is death anxiety?
How do you get rid of it or manage it?
Even though death is inevitable, meaning and value
are powerful buffers against death anxiety.
You can reduce death anxiety by aligning yourself
with a worldview that shares your values.
An example would be connecting with a religious
or spiritual group, or even taking up a cause.
For example, suppose you assume the cause
of reducing global warming by doing your part
to eliminate using things
that are damaging to the environment.
You may decide to stop using plastic
and to consistently recycle, even though it's easier
to throw everything in the trash.
Even though that's a small scale effort on your part,
identifying with a cause connects you
to a movement that is larger
than you and lives on beyond you.
When you believe in a higher power or attach yourself
to a movement, you gain relative immortality
through your beliefs, living on past your experience.
That's one perspective you can adopt to lessen the fear
of dying and having everything you stand for stop.
Take a look at this video on identifying
and establishing meaning and value in your life.
Thanks for watching.
See you next time.