How to Deal With an Existential Crisis

An existential crisis occurs when a person starts to question his or her purpose in life and whether life itself has any meaning. The person realizes that his life will end, and wonder if he will simply disappear from existence without having had an impact on the world. The person may even wonder if there is actually a "heavenly reward" for having lived a good life.

Instructions

• 1

  Count your blessings. In many places on Earth, people worry about where their next meals are coming from, whether they will have a safe place to sleep or protection from enemies. They don't have the luxury of wondering about the meaning of their lives because they're just trying to survive one more day.

• 2

  Realize that many people like you, maybe even most people like you, experience existential crises at different times in their lives. No one's life is free of traumatic or life-changing events that make them question their purposes or whether life has any meaning.

• 3

  Get help. A therapist can help you figure out what brought on your existential crisis and explore possible solutions. A significant percentage of therapists' practices consists of those experiencing existential crises.

• 4

  Consider that there are no answers to your questions or that there's no way you can know the answers. It may be that all you can do is the best you can from day to day, just as everyone else does.

• 5

  Find your own meaning. If you can't determine what purpose a higher power has in mind for you--or you question whether there even is a higher power--you can decide for yourself what your purpose is and work to fulfill that purpose. Find a cause to commit your time and money to, one that touches your heart or helps those close to you.