 some scientists (1), an existential crisis is usually experienced in adulthood - 30-50 years. It is also called the "mid-life crisis" - when a person internally begins to count his own life not from the "beginning of birth", but "until death."
There are studies (2), according to which people can experience an existential crisis more than once, and its causes are not always associated with age-related reassessment of life's meanings.
During an existential crisis, a person may be accompanied by anxiety, a feeling of loneliness and detachment from others, disappointment, loss of inner joy, apathy.
The general signs of an existential crisis are described in more detail here.
All that is known at the moment is that existential crises are related to mental health. They can accompany mental health issues such as depression, bipolar disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and burnout. However, the question of what is the cause and what is the effect is still debatable and is being investigated.
Existential questions can, on the one hand, cause depression. On the other hand, to be the beginning of a revolution, a new life stage.
Existentialists view this crisis as inevitable, but not pathological. In their view, an existential crisis is a journey and a necessary experience. During a crisis, a person reassesses his views and values. This can lead to positive changes and improve the quality of life.
Some people experience crisis unconsciously. If we talk about extreme options, it can be either a rejection of life or a complete disregard for the crisis - people are immersed in activities that distract from existential issues.
One of the founders of existential psychotherapy, the Austrian philosopher and psychologist Viktor Frankl described three classes of values ​​that make a person's life meaningful. These are the values ​​of creativity, the values ​​of experience and the values ​​of attitude.
Based on them, experts have formed several recommendations for those who are faced with a crisis. What can you do on your own?
Share experiences with loved ones. Ask them to tell you what they value in you, in your relationship. Through the love of loved ones and significance for others, you can feel that your life and you yourself matter.
Take an active role in finding answers to questions. Meaning is not discovered, but "made" - the answer to the question of meaning is not in the universe, but in ourselves.
It is important to remember that there is no “right” way, right or wrong meanings, a universal guide to managing life.
 Concentrate on what is happening here and now. What seems important at the moment may not matter in 10, 20 years, and vice versa.
Monitor pessimistic thoughts (“life is meaningless, and our efforts are worthless”) and try not to immerse yourself in them. According to V. Frankl, even when we cannot change the circumstances of life, we remain free in what position to take in relation to these circumstances.
If you realize that you cannot cope with the crisis on your own, that it is destroying you, it will be useful to contact a specialist. Including the help of a person with a medical education (psychotherapist, psychiatrist) may be needed. When existential anxiety is too strong, a combination of talk therapy and pharmacotherapy may be needed.
Coping with an existential crisis may involve a combination of self-help techniques, seeking support, and psychotherapy. Strategies tend to vary depending on age and life situation.
Workaholism and burnout can be consequences of escaping from existential anxiety. In this case, when professional activity is interrupted (weekends or vacations come), a person is faced with an alarming state: work is no longer able to “protect” from existential issues. Viktor Frankl called this phenomenon "weekend neurosis" (3).
Some experts believe (4) that one of the main causes of burnout is a failed search for meaning in professional activities. Psychotherapist Alfried Lenglet argued (5) that those who do not realize the values ​​that they feel as their own are susceptible to burnout syndrome.
How to find meaning in work?
Above, I have already described three classes of values ​​that, according to V. Frankl, make it possible to make a person's life meaningful: the values ​​of experience, the values ​​of attitude and the values ​​of creativity. Let's take a closer look at the latter.
V.Frankl understands the value of creativity in a broad context - these are the values ​​of creation in general, which a person realizes, including in the process of work.
“If a person is busy with his own business or realizes a mission, then the highest meaning for a person becomes the search for opportunities to perform his work as efficiently as possible (…) What is decisive in the perception of the situation is not the position held, but what a person is able to bring to his work as a unique individual.
In some areas it is easier to find meaning, in others it is more difficult. It can be difficult to see the contribution and be proud of the work when you are one of a dozen or hundreds of people who work on a project.
You can find meaning in work by consciously connecting it with the specific people we serve. Ask yourself what are you creating, for whom, how does it help others? If the answers are not at all satisfactory, this is a reason to contact a specialist and, possibly, change something.
You can find more meaning by helping others. According to research (6), people who help others feel happier. You can implement this idea in your work. For example, offer help to a colleague who has been struggling with a difficult task for several days, or help a new employee understand the processes of the company and the project.
The way we arrange our own work also influences the sense of meaning in the routine. We invest more when three things come together at work: the implementation of our skills, values ​​and passion.
Think about what these three aspects are and how you can implement them in your work. It's not about changing your role drastically, but about realizing your unique strengths and how you can use them to help your team and project achieve their goals.
Existentialism, one of the main philosophical trends of the 20th century, focuses on the uniqueness of human being. It is also called the "philosophy of existence". The word itself comes from the Latin existentia - existence.
The forerunner of existentialism was the Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard. Back in the 19th century, he first formulated the concept of "existence", opposing it to the "system" of the German idealist Hegel. Later, Jean-Paul Sartre, Albert Camus, Simone de Beauvoir, Martin Heidegger and others were ranked among the existentialists. Basic in understanding the philosophy of existentialism is Sartre's work "Existentialism is humanism" (1946).
In the 1930s and 1960s, psychological schools began to appear that linked existential philosophy with psychology.
One of the founders of existential psychology was the Austrian psychiatrist and philosopher Viktor Frankl. During World War II, Frankl went through several concentration camps; on the basis of this experience, in 1945, one of his main works was written - the book "Say Yes to Life!": A Psychologist in a Concentration Camp. This and other writings of Frankl served as a source for humanistic psychology, as well as existential psychotherapy. The main thesis of this method says that the lack of meaning is the main stress for a person. Logotherapy, the method of Viktor Frankl, is based on helping a person find the meaning of life. The literal translation of this term is “treatment with meaning”.
An existential crisis is a feeling of anxiety and anxiety associated with the loss of the meaning of life. This concept has been widely studied by such existential psychologists as Irvin Yalom and Rollo May.
Kierkegaard wrote about existential anxiety: in 1844, the philosopher's short book on anxiety was published, in which he declared: "He who has learned to worry correctly has learned the highest."
Together with Alena Kutduzova, an expert from the psychological center "On Myasnitskaya", we will tell you more about the existential crisis.
“Essentially, an existential crisis is the loss of the meaning of life. It arises when a person is faced with life given that cannot be changed. It could be someone's death - a reminder that I will die too; loneliness - "no one will fully understand me, because there is no person in the world exactly the same as me"; the uncertainty of life - "no one knows what will happen tomorrow."
An existential crisis can be provoked by a difficult situation in the world, uncertainty in the economic sphere, illness of a loved one, a direct encounter with death, great life upheavals. An existential crisis is always connected with how a person lives his life, how fully and deeply, and arises either when this life is threatened - direct or indirect, or in a situation where life does not suit the person himself.
It is believed that existential crises are characteristic of people of middle and older age, with an already formed life position and acquired experience. However, young people also face the challenges of loneliness, freedom and responsibility, the search for meaning and purpose in life. Such a crisis is more commonly referred to as a "quarter-life crisis".
Like any crisis state, an existential crisis includes several components and can manifest itself in different ways.
We will talk about some of the signs by which you can trace that a person is going through a crisis, and also what exactly indicates the existential nature of the crisis.
Crisis states are often accompanied by disturbance of natural processes.