Existential crisis

Existential crisis is considered to be a direct consequence of depression, being a prevalent symptom especially among children and young adults with above-average intelligence.^[3] The issue can be addressed in the same therapeutic and medical manner as ordinary depression, and is usually curable by antidepressants.

Peter Wessel Zapffe, a Norwegian philosopher, provided a fourfold route in his work The Last Messiah that he believed all self-conscious beings use in order to cope with the inherent indifference and absurdity of existence, comprising "anchoring, "isolation", "distraction, and "sublimation":

• Anchoring is the "fixation of points within, or construction of walls around, the liquid fray of consciousness". The anchoring mechanism provides individuals with a value or an ideal that allows them to focus their attentions in a consistent manner. Zapffe also applied the anchoring principle to society, and stated "God, the Church, the State, morality, fate, the laws of life, the people, the future" are all examples of collective primary anchoring firmaments.
• Isolation is "a fully arbitrary dismissal from consciousness of all disturbing and destructive thought and feeling".
• Distraction occurs when "one limits attention to the critical bounds by constantly enthralling it with impressions". Distraction focuses all of one's energy on a task or idea to prevent the mind from turning in on itself.
• Sublimation is the refocusing of energy away from negative outlets, toward positive ones. The individual distances him or herself and looks at his or her existence from an aesthetic point of view (e.g. writers, poets, painters). Zapffe himself pointed out that his written works were the product of sublimation.From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia