{"id":2169,"date":"2024-12-20T14:25:44","date_gmt":"2024-12-20T20:25:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/biculturalhealth.apacommnet.org\/?p=2169"},"modified":"2024-12-20T14:25:44","modified_gmt":"2024-12-20T20:25:44","slug":"living-with-existential-depression","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/biculturalhealth.apacommnet.org\/?p=2169","title":{"rendered":"Living With Existential Depression"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Existential depression is a deeply challenging experience where individuals grapple with finding meaning in their lives and existence itself. This struggle can lead to a lack of motivation in daily life, fixation on thoughts of death and dying, indifference toward the seemingly &#8220;unfixable&#8221; state of the world, and avoidance of connections with others. While these feelings can be overwhelming, it&#8217;s important to remember that existential depression is not a formal diagnosis but rather a way to describe this specific emotional and philosophical struggle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cEveryone experiences [a level of] existential depression at some point in their lives and it is very common to find it as one moves through the challenges of the maturation process,\u201d-&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.psychologytoday.com\/us\/therapists\/jed-turnbull-new-york-ny\/140806\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Jed Turnbull<\/a>, PhD, LCSW, CHT, a licensed social worker, and therapist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Questions that often spark feelings of existential depression include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul id=\"mntl-sc-block_13-0\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>What is the meaning of life?&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Why is there suffering?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Why do people have to die?&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Can I make an impact in the world?&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Why do bad people go unpunished?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Why do good people experience pain?&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Certain life experiences can also act as potential triggers for existential depression, such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul id=\"mntl-sc-block_33-0\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Stressful life events:&nbsp;<\/strong>Situations that cause major upheaval can greatly impact your life. For example, one study notes that cancer patients may question the meaning of life when they realize that death is a very real possibility.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Having poor&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.verywellmind.com\/doing-what-you-love-the-battle-of-motivation-5222445\">job satisfaction<\/a><\/strong>: Research has shown that there&#8217;s a relationship between job satisfaction and mental health. So, if you&#8217;re dissatisfied with your job you may have poorer mental health. You may also start to wonder what the purpose or point of your job is.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Lack of meaningful relationships:&nbsp;<\/strong>Science notes a strong link between healthy social relationships and aspects of our health and wellness.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIn more immediate circumstances, one\u2019s way of expression can be very helpful in alleviating their depressive symptoms,\u201d Turnbull notes. \u201cJournaling or writing, and other&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.verywellmind.com\/what-is-art-therapy-2795755\">abstract ways of self-expression<\/a>&nbsp;such as art and music, as well as learning something new, can all be ways to decrease depressive symptoms.\u201d-<a href=\"https:\/\/www.psychologytoday.com\/us\/therapists\/jed-turnbull-new-york-ny\/140806\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Jed Turnbull<\/a>, PhD<br><br>Experiencing existential depression can be triggered by deep reflections and life events. It\u2019s crucial to prioritize mental health and adopt a healthy lifestyle in response. Taking time to reflect on your well-being and engage in self-care practices can help manage feelings of existential dread and promote a more meaningful and fulfilling life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><br>\u7167\u987e\u597d\u81ea\u5df1\u662f\u5bf9\u7684\u3002<em>Taking care of yourself is the right thing to do.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Reference: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.verywellmind.com\/what-is-existential-depression-5496376\">https:\/\/www.verywellmind.com\/what-is-existential-depression-5496376<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Existential depression is a deeply challenging experience where individuals grapple with finding meaning in their lives and existence itself. This struggle can lead to a lack of motivation in daily life, fixation on thoughts of death and dying, indifference toward &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/biculturalhealth.apacommnet.org\/?p=2169\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":2170,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,1],"tags":[515,53,21,557,558,562],"class_list":["post-2169","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-healthy-youth-development","category-post","tag-ball","tag-bicultural-healthy-living","tag-health","tag-nkifshic","tag-notknowingisfoolseekinghelpiscool","tag-seementalhealth"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/biculturalhealth.apacommnet.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2169","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/biculturalhealth.apacommnet.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/biculturalhealth.apacommnet.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biculturalhealth.apacommnet.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biculturalhealth.apacommnet.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2169"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/biculturalhealth.apacommnet.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2169\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2171,"href":"https:\/\/biculturalhealth.apacommnet.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2169\/revisions\/2171"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biculturalhealth.apacommnet.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2170"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/biculturalhealth.apacommnet.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2169"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biculturalhealth.apacommnet.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2169"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biculturalhealth.apacommnet.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2169"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}