The existential crisis is a period of life where we constantly doubt, we question everything and nothing goes well. Beyond the deep discomfort felt, what are the other signs to recognize?
What is an existential crisis?
As its name suggests, the existential crisis is an identity crisis which can occur at any time of life and can affect anyone. It is characterized by a deep feeling of psychological unease. The subject questions his life, his choices, to the point of sometimes going so far as to question the value of one’s own existence. “Besides a massive loss of meaning and a loss of direction, we have difficulty projecting ourselves, knowing who we want to become, what decisions we want to make, where we want to go, and the decisions we have made so far no longer seem to us to be either very clear or very fair“, comments Johanna Rozenblum, clinical psychologist.
What are the signs of existential crisis?
- Incessant questions : “Who am I?”, “what am I doing here?”, “why me?”, “what is the meaning of life?”….The subject comes to question aspects of his life which, until then, seemed completely clear to him. These questions focus first on a specific area of life, then gradually extend to all areas of one’s existence
- A loss of self-confidence: an existential crisis is accompanied by a significant reduction in self-confidence
- A pessimismespecially with regard to the future
- A questioning of choices that have been done in the past
- A deep malaise, a kind of destabilization which can slide towards anxiety
- Mood disorders: hyperemotionality, anxiety and sadness
- Sleep problems
- Dissatisfaction: We may have succeeded in life and be exactly where we want to be, but we are no longer in phase with our decisions.
- A withdrawal into oneself “because we need to think, to find ourselves with ourselves to ask the right questions and emancipate ourselves from the opinions and views of others“, explains Johanna Rozenblum.
What are the causes of an existential crisis?
“The existential crisis generally occurs following an important event that calls into question the choices we have made and who we are: moving, romantic breakup, bereavement, relationship breakup, accidentillness, forced isolation or even bad professional experience. There is often a somewhat unexpected trigger“indicates the clinical psychologist.
What can you do to overcome your discomfort?
“To emerge from an existential crisis, it is essential to work on your storyon the trigger and on the questions we ask ourselves in order to try to make sense of it all: did the event we went through destabilize us to the point of question everything or is there really a loss of meaning because at some point we stopped listening to ourselves in favor of the opinion of a friend, a spouse, the dictates of society or of a professional ambition“, indicates the clinical psychologist. When the suffering is such that it becomes overwhelming, that it encroaches on the private, professional, emotional spherethat you sleep poorly, that you eat poorly, that you no longer control your mood and that you have difficulty planning, you should not hesitate to ask for help from A psychologist or psychiatrist.