Comments on: Coping with Existential Depression

By: gonethruitall

gonethruitall — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 09:12:27 +0000

i think it is livable ucan live thru depression or whatever forms u call it – just live an average life – shelter urself from pain or borderline situations and well u can make it and not question why things are like this

By: green

green — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 12:09:34 +0000

Since i was a child i had always experienced existential anxiety which was aggravated to existential depression particularly during my teen years i am now 29 years old and i am now experiencing the worst episode yet i have lost my father just a year ago following 2 years of watching him dying slowly this man whose inner peace always kept my world from crumbling is no more…my doctor helps me as much as he can but i know that the greater part of treatment depends on me sometimes i feel that i can do it other times i feel like i am staring at a black hole and there are times when i am ridiculously numb just going through the days with a numbed soul …i am now on a new medication hopefully it will be of aid to me…i just needed to say this in a place where people know and understand.. good luck for everyone …

By: Zoe

Zoe — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 00:31:59 +0000

I’ve been going through the same thing for years now too Jenny, I’m 18. Releiving to hear someone the same age as me understands what it feels like.

By: jayden

jayden — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 03:23:44 +0000

Your old husband doesn’t exist. Neither does his old wife.

By: Kat

Kat — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 21:12:38 +0000

Hi Jeff,
I really do feel for you, as making that choice to leave your religion must have been so difficult. I have never really been religious, but all through my 5years studying philosophy (which I now regret really, as at this point in time I really do believe ignorance is bliss) I have been agnostic, but had a vague feeling that something must be there, and that there meaning (potentially souls etc) and that there is an overall importance of kindness.

But recently I am suffering really quite badly (suicidal) from an existential crisis.. why am I here? If it’s to positively affect those around me (my previous belief) then why are those people here?…etc. I just can’t cope with it, and have panic attacks and depression at the thought that I will always feel this way. And if I don’t always feel so awful and fearful, am I just hiding from it? And what really is reality if not what you feel and see and think etc.

Anyway, I think my issue is, if there is a God, and one not to be feared.. many of these questions are answered.. although, I’m not sure now. I would love to be able to resign myself to the fact that there is a God, and that I shouldn’t worry about these things because ‘he’ will provide me with answers or whatever. But that leaves me with trying to figure out the point to my life now, and the point to any of it? If there is a God… why? And then comes the impossible to fathom concept of nothingness.
Gosh sorry, bit of a ramble, I’m having real trouble with it tonight… I think I’m just wondering what your take on it all is. Unfortunately I’m feeling now like it won’t help, but whenI started I was a bit optimistic so why not still ask?hehe.
Hope you’re well and thanks for reading my silly ramble

By: Cari

Cari — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 04:10:33 +0000

I was just diagonased with this form of depression never heard of it before I’ve been dealing with depression probably longer then I realized I was depressed. Still as of this day I’m trying to struggle through it, so to say it is midlife crisis blah blah midlife crisis probably makes it worse maybe not sue because I’m have symptoms that I’ve never experienced

By: Elijah

Elijah — Fri, 20 May 2011 21:14:34 +0000

I have answers; but I need to be lost in the stars with you…

“As you gaze into the void, know also, the void gazes into you.”
~Mark Twain

By: MeganC

MeganC — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 10:23:37 +0000

Existential depression is most certainly not a ‘mid-life crisis’ I have been suffering with this type of depression for 2 years in bouts now, and I’m only seventeen.
“I am currently facing the great challenge of depression, which I am in the process of curing” – this quote always put’s a different perspetive on it all for me, however I still have that voice in my head asking what is it all? if it even is an all, this could be a dream, what is life? everything is so weird? damn, I hate being ‘gifted’.

By: Sharon

Sharon — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 23:03:36 +0000

The wisdom of Kabbalah explains that we have reached a time in which many more people experience existential depression, or emptiness, because our desires have evolved and are so big and hard to fufil that unless one finds higher meaning to their life, they just don’t see the point in it.

The good news is, that this is no coincidence, and it is precisely at this point that one can begin to evolve their consciousness, and experience life in a whole new way. It’s just that it’s important to make the wisdom and the tools available so that people will know there are answers to their questions, fuflilment for their existential emptiness, and hope for much much better reality !

To find out more about how to answer the question “what is the meaning of my life” and “who am I, really ?” go to http://www.kab.info
and study this ancient wisdom for free.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 16:06:11 +0000

Hi all. I’ve enjoyed reading your comments. I’m 26, I left fundamentalist Christianity about a year ago and I’ve been dealing with heavy existential issues since.
First there was death. I’ve mostly worked through that. First, I’ve realized that “I” doesn’t exist outside of my environment and “I” changes from day to day. So, since I’m a collection of influences from outside me and a physical body which came from something besides myself, in some sense, not a whole lot will be lost when I die.
Then there’s the identity issues. Those still bother me a bit. If we as individuals are brains, and brains physically change, we’re not the same person day to day. I suppose the greatest relief I’ve had from this is realizing that, although I do change, many of the changes that occur within me are brought about by me. So, there’s still some continuum to myself.
As far as meaning goes . . . I’m coming to the conclusion that the point of life is to experience and accomplish whatever I feel compelled to. In other words, there is no universal meaning, but things have meaning because I say they do, they always had, and that’s OK.
Recognizing that I decide what matters, the task is to figure out what I care about. The value I place on “things” seems to be the product of both my somewhat unique innate human propensities and the imprint which has been left on me by the collision of my genetically unique human form and the rest of the world.
For example, I care about other people; I’d like to help them be happy. Although I could speculate as to why I care about others, I need not do so. Giving to others is part of my purpose in life for no other reason than because I feel love and concern for others.
The two things that I’m still having trouble with are dealing with the feeling that the physical world from which our entire existence is derived is cold and capricious and finding consistency within myself after realizing that I am perpetually shaped by my ever-growing understanding of an imperfectly-discernable and infinitely complex world. How can I find peace in building a future for myself or others when what I build now may lose value as I see the world in a different light down the road?
On the other hand, some things seem to be stable: It seems that it will always be preferential for me to have enough money rather than be poor. It seems that understanding others and building relationships will always matter. However, it’s still tough to commit myself to anything when I know that I might change my mind later.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this stuff.

By: wife of the existential crisis

wife of the existential crisis — Wed, 05 May 2010 15:00:40 +0000

Does this crisis force you to focus on everything that makes you and your spouse different? My husband is only focussing on his wants and needs and is totally neglecting mine. He is doing what he wants and saying that he needs to do this. I want my old husband back. Help!

By: Jee

Jee — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 15:11:54 +0000

I disagree with 314159pi. While sometimes medications can help to cope a bit, in the grand scheme of things very often most people aren’t invested in doing the work that it takes (and for those of us who have, we can tell you that it’s can be very painstaking and frightening at times) and then just take a pill and go back to their regularly scheduled way of being (as in the one that wasn’t working for them) and believe it is just the wrong prescription.

Also meds can sometimes mask important things like grieving that needs to be worked through or anxiety that needs to learn to be handled on one’s own.

By: Jenny

Jenny — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 06:48:44 +0000

To say that existential depression is the same as a ‘midlife crisis’ is complete bullshit. Existential depression affects people who are not middle aged. I should know.
I’ve been struggling with depression and existentialistic thoughts for years now.
I’m 17.

By: Frank

Frank — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 19:37:19 +0000

Oh yeah. Psychotherapy. Gee, I was just thinking to myself, I’m horridly disheartened by the knowledge that my life will end in a meaningless and unremembered death, that all my achievements will be crushed by time, that eventually even time will stop when the universe achieves it’s maximum entropy state. Clearly what I need to is to spend a lot of time and money jawwing with the fanatic offspring of a discredited, disingenuous charlatan. Screw that, I’ll be over here, meditating under the Bodhi tree.

By: Joon

Joon — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 14:48:33 +0000

I have struggled with existential depression since I was nine. Now I’m fifteen and still struggling. I don’t think I’m having my midlife crisis.