In the first half of 2025, it seems most people’s attention and awareness has been overwhelmed by stressors, including financial, societal, and political stories competing for our time and energy. As a therapist working with individuals in 2025, it has been my experience that increasingly more of my clients are questioning the meaning, value, and purpose of this life.
Grappling with these difficult questions can lead to confusion, self-doubt, worry, low motivation, and hopelessness. Questions about the meaning of life often lead to a personal view that life is pointless and has no meaning, often causing discomfort and even hopelessness.To help process these feelings of doubt, today we are going to talk about the definition of an existential crisis and how to make it through to the other side when your existential anxiety creeps up.
What is an Existential Crisis?
Plenty of people have reached a point in life when the questions start to come, such as, “What is the meaning of life?” and “What is my purpose for being here?”. Existential anxiety often arises during stages of life-transition and is associated with challenges adapting to changing circumstances, which puts our sense of safety at risk.
Existentialism is a philosophical perspective which is based on one’s meaning and purpose in life and emphasizes that all humans are free to make choices, with which comes responsibility (Corbett, 1985). This freedom is often connected to a fear of making the wrong choice or missing out, due to there not being a “right” path for everyone. This leads to a perceived personal responsibility to “make meaning” out of life, which often causes anxiety. Some of the major life events that trigger existential crisis:
- Job/career change
- Moving
- Death of a loved one
- Entering a new age category (adulthood, mid-life, retirement)
- Traumatic experience
- Diagnosis of serious or chronic illness
- Marriage or divorce (Cuncic, 2024)
During challenging social times like the one we are living in now, the well-being of individuals as well as that of the collective is impacted. And, individuals and organizations both are struggling to ensure basic needs are being met, including personal, emotional, and social. In times of transition, you may question the point of making decisions in life if the end result is the same: death. Symptoms that show up during an existential crisis include:
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Feeling overwhelmed
- Isolating from friends and family
- Lack of motivation/energy
- Loneliness
- Feeling stuck and unable to change (Selemin, 2024)
Turning Crisis into Opportunity: Overcoming Existential Anxiety
Worries about the meaning of life, uncertainty, and even death, are an unavoidable part of living. Every one of us faces the challenge of finding a way to go on living, knowing full-well that death is inevitable and there is no way to prove that life has meaning or that one way of living is better than another. This understanding presents us with a choice between giving up on life entirely, becoming absorbed in distractions like gaming, social media, and entertainment, or living an authentic life filled with mindfulness, presence, and clarity. The key here is finding balance in our lives. It is okay to check in with social media and news online. However, doom-scrolling for hours goes way beyond staying in touch with current events and leads to more disconnection from ourselves and the most important things in our life.
Treat the Crisis like a Turning Point
When we take the perspective that an existential crisis is there to teach us a lesson, deepen our understanding, or get us to move on from a belief that is holding us back, it can turn into a positive personal transformation. These times in life offer us a chance to investigate our values, purpose, and roles in relationships so we can make changes that allow us to live a life based on our own personal beliefs and values.
How to Deal with an Existential Crisis: Making Changes in Life
Going through the process of identifying our own thoughts and feelings plays a significant role in living an authentic life based on a sense of comfort with our self identity and confidence in making decisions and behaving in ways which align with our personal truth. We begin to prioritize our own well-being and happiness over others’ views or demands, without a sense of guilt or shame. This creates space for us to balance our wants and needs with the pressures of family, friends and society.
1. Talk to People
Isolation is often a result of existential crises. It is important to connect with people in a meaningful way so we can get different perspectives on life. If there are supportive people in our lives, including professional therapists, it is helpful to nurture those connections to provide stability, comfort and validation.
2. Practice Gratitude
A mindful practice can powerfully shift our thoughts and beliefs by intentionally recognizing things, activities, and people to be grateful for in our lives. Start with a daily reflection on 3 things for which we can be thankful. And these things can be simple, like having a roof over our head, food to eat, the sun in the sky, the wind in the trees, the ground supporting us. By shifting our focus on what is not right to what is good, we allow ourselves to see our lives from a different perspective. And, amazingly, we always find what we are looking for. So, if we are looking for the good things in life, they will be there for us.
3. Try Meditation
Practicing meditation reduces anxiety, negative thought patterns, and feelings of isolation. To help get started, we can find guided meditations online. The Leaves on a Stream meditation, guided by psychologist, Dr. Jennifer Andrews, helps to begin to separate and slow down our thoughts to settle into a sense of peace. Dan Siegel, a psychiatrist in California, created a wonderful meditation called the Wheel of Awareness. He offers different lengths of this practice (30 minutes, 20 minutes, and 7 minutes).
Getting through the Darkness
Are you struggling to make it through an existential crisis? If so, it may be helpful to talk with a licensed therapist. Some challenges require expanding your support network to include a trained professional to navigate the challenges. You don’t have to make it through the darkest times of your life alone. Discovering meaning and nurturing connections in healthy relationships can offer a source of resilience, hope, and growth.
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