Existential Dread — When Life Feels Meaningless
Post in our ongoing daily series on the top concerns clients bring to Integrative Mind Body Psychiatry.
Sometimes what looks like depression is not depression. It is existential dread. The soul-level ache that arrives when a person has done everything right by the outside world — degrees, jobs, family, savings — and still cannot answer the question: what is this all for?
Existential dread is not a psychiatric failing. It is a legitimate question. And it is one that biology alone cannot answer.
Common Existential Struggles I See
Midlife: 'Is this really it?'
After a big loss or health scare: 'What was I doing with my time?'
In empty nest: 'Who am I now that I am not needed the same way?'
In faith transitions: 'What do I believe now, and what does that mean?'
In caregiving of aging parents: 'What is a life well lived?'
Five Whole-Person Steps
Take the questions seriously. Do not medicate them away.
Find a spiritual companion — a pastor, a director, a wise friend, a trusted therapist.
Reduce noise. Existential questions cannot be heard over screens.
Rule out depression. Sometimes existential dread and depression coexist, and treating depression clears the field.
Move toward meaning, not away from discomfort. Meaning is often on the other side of the question.
You are not broken. You are asking a holy question. I see patients via telehealth in Utah at integrativemindbodypsychiatry.com.
Tomorrow: What to Do When Everything Feels Too Much.
Respectfully, Beth Makar, RN, Dual-MSN, PMHNP-BC · Integrative Mind Body Psychiatry · integrativemindbodypsychiatry.com
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