fei75766_ch11_345-376.indd 355  02/06/20 12:38 PM
Chapter 11    May: Existential Psychology355
existence. Itexists when oneconfronts theissue offulfilling one’s potentialities. 
Thisconfrontation canleadtostagnation anddecay, butitcanalsoresult ingrowth 
andchange. 
Theacquisition offreedom inevitably leads toanxiety. Freedom cannot exist
without anxiety, norcananxiety existwithout freedom. May(1981, p.185)quoted 
Kierkegaard assaying that“anxiety isthedizziness offreedom.” Anxiety, likediz-
ziness, canbeeither pleasurable orpainful, constructive ordestructive. Itcangive
people energy andzest,butitcanalsoparalyze andpanic them. Moreover, anxiety 
canbeeither normal orneurotic.
Normal Anxiety
Noonecanescape theeffects ofanxiety. Togrow andtochange one’s values means 
toexperience constructive ornormal anxiety. May(1967) defined normal anxiety as
that“which isproportionate tothethreat, doesnotinvolve repression, andcanbe
confronted constructively ontheconscious level” (p.80).
Aspeople grow from infancy tooldage,their values change, andwitheach 
step, theyexperience normal anxiety. “Allgrowth consists oftheanxiety-creating 
surrender ofpastvalues” (May, 1967, p.80).Normal anxiety isalsoexperienced 
during those creative moments when anartist, ascientist, oraphilosopher sud-
denly achieves aninsight thatleads toarecognition thatone’s life,andperhaps 
thelivesofcountless others, willbepermanently changed. Forexample, scientists 
whowitnessed thefirstatomic bomb testsinAlamogordo, New Mexico, experi -
enced normal anxiety withtherealization that,from thatmoment forward, every -
thing hadchanged (May, 1981).
Neurotic Anxiety
Normal anxiety, thetypeexperienced during periods ofgrowth orofthreat toone’s 
values, isexperienced byeveryone. Itcanbeconstructive provided itremains propor -
tionate tothethreat. Butanxiety canbecome neurotic orsick.May(1967) defined 
neurotic anxiety as“a
reaction which isdispro -
portionate tothethreat, 
involves repression and
other forms ofintrapsy -
chicconflict, andisman-
agedbyvarious kinds of
blocking-off ofactivity 
andawareness” (p.80).
Although normal 
anxiety isfeltwhenever 
values arethreatened, 
neurotic anxiety isexpe-
rienced whenever values 
become transformed into
dogma. Tobeabsolutely 
Normal anxiety isproportionate tothethreat andcanbe
constructive. ©dolgachov/123RFFinal PDF to printer