Existential emptiness: the feeling that life has no meaning

Life has no meaning. That is the main belief of those who experience the heartbreaking sensation of the desire to live, the weight of injustices and a kind of disconnection from everything that surrounds them.

They tend to be thoughtful people who investigate questions of great importance, like death or lack of freedom, and that they cannot get rid of a deep existential void that engulfs them ever stronger. Void to which society contributes with its prevailing messages related to individual values ​​and immediate satisfaction.

Although they are also those who navigate in the search for pleasure with the sole purpose of anesthetizing their suffering. The difference is that the latter do not notice the emptiness they experience.

For both, there are no answers to why we live. Nothing fills them, Nothing satisfies them and, precisely, that ends up trapping them in a psychological state of suffering. In most cases, this situation leads to deep depression or self-destructive behavior.

The existential void is the spiral of meaninglessness and the consequence of recognizing oneself as someone who looks at the world with a different perspective due to the inconsistencies detected or as someone who has allowed themselves to be carried away by the pursuit of pleasure to avoid suffering. A very widespread phenomenon today. Let’s dig deeper.

In the depths of the abyss

The development of a meaning in life can be frustrated when goals and objectives are not achieved or fulfilled; when the clash between expectations and reality is so strong that only disillusionment appears, or when crisis situations threaten the feeling of security and certainty and there are no adequate tools to deal with them.

All this leads to a deep state of existential frustration that empties the person inside and that, at times, takes her to a painful abyss. It is as if inside they housed a dense desert, one in which the absurd dominates existence and almost all ability to connect and feel others is lost.

Perspectives of existential emptiness

For the psychologist Benjamín Wolan, this state was called existential neurosis. In his own words:“the failure to find meaning in life, the feeling that one has no reason to live, to fight, to hope… that one is incapable of finding a goal or direction in life, the feeling that, Although individuals put a lot of effort into their work, in reality they have no aspirations.”

Some authors, such as psychotherapist Tony Anatrella, point out the constant search to satisfy the ego as the cause of this loss of meaning, since they are selfish actions that prevent the capacity for personal transcendence.

And in relation to this, other authors affirm that the loss of meaning is associated with the disappearance of the other, the supremacy of individualistic values ​​and obtaining pleasure as a -wrong- mechanism to be happy. In this way, the person clings to his or her individual desires, and the meaning of social references, such as coexistence, solidarity or mutual respect, is diluted.

Thus, when reality is confused and The means to achieve happiness become ends in themselves, there is a risk of falling into emptiness. Short-term pleasurable emotions, such as enjoyment or joy, provide pleasure, but not self-realization, and like all pleasures, they carry the danger of creating slavery or addiction.

Somehow, man needs to do something with his life that is not only good, but also done for him. Therefore, The meaning of life is related to the destiny you want and need. Through this desire, man aims to offer freedom to his own development, since when he lives fully is when his freedom transcends the limits of his immanence and understands that the meaning of his life is not reduced only to something material and finite, but it transcends, it goes beyond.

The problem is when this doesn’t happen as expected. Sometimes, circumstances do not meet the expectations of your life project and meaninglessness takes you to the abyss of existential emptiness.

The noetic dimension of man

According to the Swiss psychiatrist Viktor Frankl, man has mainly three dimensions:

Somatic dimension. It is made up of the bodily realm and the biological realm.Psychic dimension. It is about psychodynamic reality, that is, the psychological and emotional universe.Noetic dimension or spiritual dimension. It encompasses the phenomenological realms of the soul. Therefore, this dimension transcends the other two. Furthermore, thanks to it, human beings can integrate the harmful experiences of existence and develop a healthy life on a psychological level.

Thus, when the person experiences a deep state of boredom and is lost in the labyrinth of their existence, they have conflicts in their spiritual dimension. He is not able to integrate his wounds, You may not even identify them. He is also unable to find a reason for his existence, so he drowns in suffering and experiences a lack of meaning, coherence and purpose: an existential void.

Frankl states that This emptiness is the root of many mental disorders. That is, the break in the noetic or spiritual dimension, that feeling that existence has no meaning, is expressed in the psychological dimension through three groups of main symptoms:

Depressive symptoms. Aggressive symptoms with or without lack of impulse control. Addictions.

In this way, people trapped in the existential void are as if they were covering their gaze and feelings with an unconscious veil, which prevents them from finding the meaning of their life and It leads to chronic dissatisfaction and despair. So what to do to find that meaning?

In search of meaning

According to Swiss psychologist Carl Jung, Man needs to find meaning in order to continue his path in the world. Therefore, without that meaning, you are lost in nothingness, in no man’s land, wandering in the labyrinth of existence.

Frankl emphasizes that the path to meaning is mediated by values and that social conscience is the instrument that reveals it. Now, even though values ​​arise from personal intimacy, they end up culminating in universal values, which coincide with cultural, religious or philosophical systems.

Therefore, The connection with the other is important to not lose the meaning of life, as well as maintaining emotional ties, as long as all the responsibility for being happy is not placed on them. Somehow, A life with meaning is a life rooted in the social.

The French sociologist and philosopher Durkheim reflects very well the problem of social uprooting and the consequences that this entails. In his words, “ It is individualized beyond a certain point, if it separates itself too radically from other beings, men or things, it finds itself cut off from the very sources from which it should normally feed, it no longer has anything to which it can apply itself. By making the void around her, she has made the void within herself and has nothing left to reflect on but her own misery. It no longer has as its object of meditation anything other than the nothingness that is in it and the sadness that is its consequence.“.

However, It is not about looking for culprits or saviors. It is, rather, adopting a reflective and responsible attitude that allows us to investigate within ourselves, find a purpose and get out of that existential void. Because it is true that there is no question more complicated than what the meaning of life is for us.

It is convenient to affirm that there are multiple ways to define the meaning of life: as many as there are people. Therefore, what matters, as Viktor Frankl stated, is not the meaning of life at a general level, but what meaning we give it at a given moment.

Furthermore, Frankl states that we should not inquire into the meaning of life, but rather understand that it is we who are being inquired into. I mean, We can respond to life by responding to our own life. This means that responsibility is the intimate essence of our existence.

Because even though we have invested time, energy, effort and heart, life, sometimes, is not fair. And even though breaking down is totally understandable at this time, we have two options:

Accept that we cannot change what happened, that there is nothing to do and we are victims of circumstances.Accept that, indeed, we cannot change what has happened to us, but we can change our attitude towards it.

Therefore, we are responsible for our actions, our emotions and thoughts, our decisions. And because of that, We have the option to decide why, to what or to whom we consider ourselves responsible.

Therefore, The meaning of life is always changing, it never stops. Every day and every moment we have the opportunity to make decisions that will determine whether we remain subject to our own circumstances or whether we act with dignity, listening to our true self responsibly and free from the traps of pleasure and immediate satisfaction.

I feel existential emptiness, what can I do?

If you have come to this space because you have this feeling of emptiness and you don’t know how to solve it, the best advice you will find here is to go to therapy. It is possible that this uprooting, this lack of meaning, is related to a disorder that requires the help of a professional. Therefore, do not hesitate to ask for help, because we all have the right to grab a helping hand to get up.

You might be interested…