#existential psychology

[funeral]

For the individual involved, a psychological crisis appears to be a "standing at the threshold" experience, which is often expressed in the form of a borderline or boundary situation, with metaphors such as "I was on the edge of the abyss," "I had reached the wall," "I had come to a crossroads," "I felt it was impossible to turn back," "I had pushed myself to the limit." Phrases such as these are often heard in psychotherapy practices. The transition between the phases is emotionally very demanding, and psychologically it can be linked to Rank's idea of life as a series of birth and separation traumas, while in myths and religions it is related to initiation and rites. These processes involve the symbolic death of the "old" self and the birth of a "new" personality open to self-transcendence.

Zoltán Kőváry, Applications of Existential Psychology, Vol. 2

[mooneyedandglowing]

do you write?

Hello, yes, + thank you for asking! I'm an essayist, published poet appearing in journals such as Hobart + Rust + Moth, former ghostwriter, dabbler in fiction, critic, + sometimes journalist. This blog has largely become a site of experimentation in a form akin to personal essays, though more closely resembling the persona of what I name as the public diarist.

My work is philosophical, associative, lyrical, + in constant conversation with the literary traditions of confessional writing, Modernism, Aestheticism, Romanticism, Appalachian Gothic, + the lyric essay alongside the philosophical, political, + psychological movements + traditions of existentialism, phenomenology, hermeneutics, humanism, American pragmatism, Jungian archetypes, attachment + trauma theory, feminism, moral psychology, post-structuralism, metaphysics, + the aphoristic.

Through the above, I circle witness, misrecognition, power, control, surrender, desire, grief, mortality, home, exile, exposure, perception, moral evasion, intentionality, responsibility, the ethics of attention + relation, the rescue + failure of language, the instrumental wound, + the fracture between the exterior + interior life.

You can read one of my poems here + a piece from the journal project here.

[urlocalmusicjunkie]

Life is not primarily a quest for pleasure, as Freud believed, or a quest for power, as Alfred Adler thought, but a quest for meaning. The greatest task for any person is to find meaning in [their] life. Frankl saw three possible sources for meaning: in work (doing something significant), in love (caring for another person), and in courage during difficult times. Suffering in and of itself is meaningless; we give our suffering meaning by the way in which we respond to it.

-Foreword by Harold S. Kushner to the 2006 edition of Man's Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl, page X

[omegaphilosophia]

The Philosophy of Despair

Despair is not simply intense sorrow or depression. Philosophically, despair is the experience of meaning’s collapse—the moment when the future no longer appears as a space of possibility. It is the sense that nothing one does can fundamentally change one’s condition, identity, or fate.

At its core, despair asks:

What happens when hope no longer seems rational?

1. Despair as Existential Condition (Kierkegaard)

For Søren Kierkegaard, despair is not optional—it is built into human existence.

He defines despair as:

“The sickness unto death” — a misrelation of the self to itself.

There are multiple forms:

Not knowing one is in despair

Knowing but refusing oneself

Wanting to be oneself without dependence on anything beyond the self

For Kierkegaard, despair arises because humans are finite beings who long for the infinite. When this tension is denied or mishandled, despair emerges.

Importantly, despair is not just pain—it is a spiritual condition of disconnection.

2. Despair and the Loss of Meaning (Nietzsche)

Nietzsche treats despair as the shadow of collapsed values.

When:

traditional morality fails

religious meaning dissolves

inherited purpose disappears

the individual faces nihilism.

Despair arises not because life is meaningless, but because previous meanings no longer convince.

Nietzsche’s response is not surrender but transformation:

create values

affirm life

will meaning into existence

Despair, here, is a transitional crisis—dangerous but potentially creative.

3. Despair as Absurd Awareness (Camus)

For Albert Camus, despair appears when the human demand for meaning meets the silence of the universe.

This collision produces:

absurdity

alienation

emotional revolt

Camus refuses both false hope and suicide. He insists that despair can be met with lucid defiance.

To live without appeal—to continue without illusion—is, for Camus, a form of courage.

4. Despair and Time

Despair alters the experience of time.

The future collapses

The past becomes heavy

The present feels frozen

Hope depends on a future that feels open. Despair closes that openness. It is not that nothing will happen—it is that nothing meaningful seems possible.

5. Despair vs. Sadness vs. Depression

Philosophically:

Sadness is an emotional response

Depression is a clinical condition

Despair is an existential judgment

Despair says:

“There is no meaningful path forward.”

It is a conclusion about reality, not merely a feeling.

6. Despair as Moral Exhaustion

Despair often follows prolonged struggle:

injustice without redress

effort without reward

suffering without recognition

It is the moment when endurance itself feels pointless.

Here despair is not weakness—it is burnout of the will.

7. Religious Views of Despair

In many religious traditions:

despair is a temptation

loss of hope is spiritually dangerous

hope is framed as a virtue

Yet even here, despair plays a role:

it exposes dependence

humbles the ego

confronts illusion

Some traditions treat despair as a threshold rather than a failure.

8. Is Despair Ever Rational?

This is the most uncomfortable question.

If:

suffering is real

injustice persists

death is inevitable

Is despair simply honesty?

Philosophy divides here:

Some argue despair is a refusal of responsibility to create meaning

Others argue despair is clarity without consolation

What unites both views is this: despair is not ignorance—it is awareness without refuge.

Conclusion

The philosophy of despair reveals it as:

the collapse of hope

the breakdown of meaning

a confrontation with finitude

a crisis of identity

an exposure of the limits of endurance

Despair is not merely something to escape. It is something to understand.

It asks a brutal question:

If nothing guarantees meaning—what will you do anyway?

Some philosophies answer with faith. Some with rebellion. Some with creation. Some with silence.

But all agree: despair is the moment when existence demands a response.

[theidealistphilosophy]

Love is the only sane and satisfactory answer to the problem of human existence.

Erich Fromm, Source Unlisted.

[eananoor]

The chief problem of people {today} is emptiness… not only that many people do not know what they want; they often do not know what they feel.

Rollo May Man's Search for Himself, 1953.

[raffaellopalandri]

Being-in-the-World as Ontological Understanding: A Confluence of Heidegger, Buddhism, Stoicism, Neuroscience, and Psychology

Martin Heidegger’s profound exploration of Dasein in Sein und Zeit (Being and Time) revolutionised the understanding of existence by presenting Being-in-the-world (In-der-Welt-sein) not as a static state but as an active, interpretative engagement with reality. At the core of this concept is understanding (Verstehen), which Heidegger asserts is not merely cognitive but ontological—an integral…

[terminallynumb]

"Besides, though Nietzsche was a seer in many domains, he was no guide to interpersonal relationships - has there ever lived a lonelier, more isolated man?" - Irvin Yalom (Love's Executioner)