Existential Anxiety and Its Deteriorating Effects on Adolescent Mental Health and Well-being (Nov 5, 2019)

Abstract

Existential anxiety, though it has varying definitions, exists as an inner conflict within an individual due to a perceived lack of  sense of self and identity, the presence of a feeling of emptiness, and the absence of meaning or purpose to one’s life (Berman et al., 2006; Tan et al., 2017; Schnell et al., 2018; Brassai et al., 2012).  Existential anxiety has been widely studied in literature and in the context of adults for decades, as existential concerns are a normative experience of being human and remain relevant core issues throughout life.  However, anxieties induced by existentialism are becoming alarmingly more prevalent within adolescent groups such as teenagers.  This has prompted more modern research to concentrate on the possible detrimental impacts that existential anxiety imposes on adolescent mental health and wellbeing.  This paper focuses on the findings of four different research articles relating to existential anxiety and crisis, ranging from its negative effects on adolescent mental health and behaviors to its correlation and co-occurrence with depression and suicide. 

            Keywords:   Existential anxiety, existential crisis, purpose, meaning in life, emptiness, depression, suicide

 

Existential Anxiety and Its Deteriorating Effects on Adolescent Mental Health and Wellbeing

            Renowned existential writer Albert Camus once said, “You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of.  You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life” (Intuitions, 1976).  Existentialism as a philosophy centers around the human experience, the inevitability of suffering and death, and the absurdity for the search of a higher meaning or absolutes in an effort to reach an unachievable fulfillment.  The struggle of existentialism, and of being human, is fighting to find an individual meaning in a life that may seem nonsensical or devoid of an absolute or higher purpose.  As existentialism is a major and normative part of human experience, much attention and research has gone into existential concerns and anxieties exhibited within adults in the psychological context.  It is only recently that more studies are not only including but exclusively researching existential anxiety in adolescents due to the increased presence of this specific anxiety.  Teenagers, ranging from 12 to 18 years of age, are at a critical stage of adolescent development in which they further formulate their sense of self and come to develop their individual sense of meaning and purpose in life.  Additionally, adolescents in this age group are forging an idea of the world around them and coming to terms with life as being finite: “Many important concepts about the world, self-identity, life goals, and the meaning of life are formed during these critical periods” (Tan et al., 2017, p. 222).  During this critical time period, excessive anxieties concerning death or a lack of meaning in life negatively alter the adolescent’s perception or discovery of their self and their perceived significance in the greater world around them which often leads to drastic and detrimental consequences such as poor mental health if no intervention or help is provided. 

 

 

Literature Review

            As stated previously, research on existential anxiety and existential crisis primarily focused on adults as it was thought adolescence were too young to relate to existential concerns.  However, studies such as that by Steven Berman, Carl Weems, and Timothy Stickle (2006) sought to determine the presence and prevalence of “[this] phenomenon in adolescence” (p. 303) as they deduced the critical development of adolescents to be “a likely time for the emergence of such concerns” (p. 303).   The researchers cited the significance of more adolescent-geared study, providing evidence that “by the high school years youth are able to comprehend the meaning of life and death…broader life issues become salient…and existential concerns should become prominent” (Berman et al., 2006).  This study based its definitions of existential anxiety on existential philosopher Tillich’s work, separating existential anxiety into three distinct categories: “Fate and death…emptiness and meaningless…anxiety about guild and condemnation” (Berman et al., 2006).  Using an Existential Anxiety Questionnaire created using the basis of Tillich’s theory, the researchers hypothesized they would see similar existential concerns to that of adults and also hypothesized a correlation between the presence of existential anxiety and “clinical symptoms, in particular, depression and anxiety…[through] a true-false rating scale designed to [examine the level of existential concern within a given individual]” (Berman et al., 2006).  The sample for this study consisted of 140, 15 to 18 aged adolescents of varying ethnic identities from a Florida high school, with the majority of the participants being female (Berman et al., 2006).  The results of the study found that “ninety six percent of the sample had at least 1 affirmatively endorsed existential anxiety concern” (Berman et al., 2006), confirming the notion that adolescents experience a similar phenomenon of existential concern.  Additionally, results also found a positive association between existential anxiety and clinical symptoms of mental health concerns such as depression and anxiety.  Moreover, it was concluded that existential anxiety could possibly be a predictor or “[an influence in] the development of depressive and anxiety disorders by fostering maladaptive thinking about the self, future, and the world” (Berman et al., 2006). 

            Existential anxiety can be viewed as both a normally occurring phenomenon in adolescence as they develop a broader sense of life and the world as well as an indicator and influence to bigger mental health problems due to its corruption of the perception of the individual.  In excessive levels such as this, existential anxiety derails usual development of the adolescent and puts them on a more self-destructive path.  In the worst of cases, existential anxiety can be seen as an indicator and influence to suicide ideation: in this case, an adolescent’s contemplation of and possible attempt of suicide.  Existential anxiety and its relationship to depression and suicide prompted the study of Ling Tan, Jinglu Chen, Tiansheng Xia, and Jingchu Hu (2017) in an effort to “quantify the rates and severity of suicidal ideation in a sample of 6165 Chinese children and adolescent students…to investigate whether meaning in life would be [a predictor]” (p. 219).  With adolescent suicide rates increasing across the globe each year, researchers for this study aimed to understand how existential anxiety impacts depression and suicide ideation as “it erodes people’s perceptions that their lives matter and have a purpose by interfering with the development of the self and a youth’s connection to the world around them” (Tan et al., 2017, p. 221).  The second aim of this study was to determine the relationship between mental health and suicide ideation with existential anxiety as a mediator and moderator (Tan et al., 2017, p. 227), thus providing improved insight on what factors impact suicide ideation. 

            The sampling of this study was executed in a way that was inclusive of “the general socioeconomic status… [multiple regions of eastern China]…urban or rural [areas]” (Tan et al., 2017, p. 223) and age and grade, with a range from 9 to 18 years of age.  The participants’ mental health was evaluated and taken into consideration “using Mental Health Test…previously developed by and validated for assessing Chinese children and adolescents’ general mental health status” (Tan et al., 2017, p. 223) to be used later in establishing a relationship or correlation to suicide ideation and existential anxiety.  Their existential anxiety, defined in this study by the presence or absence of meaning in life, was recorded through a test that required participants to determine the level of which they agreed with existential statements regarding meaning in life.  Lastly, suicide ideation in the participants was also “measured by Beck Scale for Suicidal ideation-Chinese Version” to gauge the level of “seriousness of suicide thoughts” (Tan et al., 2017, p. 224).  The results of the study showed that 2078 of the participants reported contemplations of suicide with confirmation that each of the factors had a positive association with one another; poor mental health coincided with higher suicide ideation, the presence of existential anxiety and the absence of meaning in life coincided with higher suicide ideation, and poor mental health coincided with an absence of meaning in life (Tan et al., 2017, p. 224).  The conclusion of this study validated other research with the similar findings, which is significant and interesting as most studies centering on existential anxiety in adolescents took place in Western countries.

            Both studies thus far have discussed the connection between existential anxiety and its relationship to mental illness as well as its correlation to adolescent suicide ideation.  However, none so far have discussed the implications of existential anxiety having a negative impact on adolescents on its own outside of depression or other disorders.  Though existential anxiety often does co-occur with mental illness, it is possible this is not always the case.  Tatjana Schnell, Rebekka Gerstner, and Henning Krampe (2018) base their study on this train of thought and whether existential anxiety can trigger suicide ideation outside of depression and other well known risk factors, using adolescents from Ecuador as the sample.  This study goes into more depth on existential anxiety in terms of how an absence of meaning in life can lead to a crisis with severe impacts on personality and outlook on life: “Positive affect, life satisfaction, hope, and self – efficacy are severely diminished, while anxiety, depression, pessimism, and negative affect are higher than average” (Schnell et al., 2018, p. 294).  A tragic real-life example of existential anxiety being too strong to bear is Bastian B., a young man who took his own life, was cited in the study by researchers for a quote he said that exemplified the type of thinking and outlook that is brought upon by absence in meaning and purpose in life:

Why all this bother?  Why should I work? In order to slave away, retire at 65 and scrape off 5 years later?  Why should I strive for achieve anything if it is [pointless] in the end because I will kick the bucket sooner or later? ... I can build a house, have kids and whatnot.  But what for?  One day or other the house will be knocked down, and the kids will die too.  What meaning is life supposed to have? (Schnell et al., 2018, p. 294)

In conducting this study to determine whether existential anxiety could lead to suicide ideation outside of depression, a sample of 300 adolescents from four different schools in Ecuador were selected to participate with almost an even half being male and female (Schnell et al., 2018, p. 296).  The participants had their existential anxiety and their suicide ideation assessed through a series of tests that required them to examine and agree or disagree with specific statements such as a lack of purpose in life or “life is not worth living” (Schnell et al., 2018, p. 296) regarding the meaning in life and suicide contemplation, respectively.  The researchers also evaluated the participants for depression or similar clinical symptoms to properly control against it.

  Similar to previous research completed, the results of this study confirmed that existential anxiety and depression often co-occur with a “large majority [of participants] (82%) also suffering from a crisis of meaning” (Schnell et al., 2018, p. 298).  However, this did not disprove or dispute the researchers’ original hypothesis; results also showed that approximately 65% of participants experienced existential anxiety or a crisis of meaning without showing increased or significant levels of depression or depressive symptoms (Schnell et al., 2018, p. 300).  Additionally, evidence showed that the male participants of this study would be more likely to fall under suicide ideation through existential anxiety rather than through depression whereas for female participants the opposite was true (Schnell et al., 2018, p. 298).  The fact that existential anxiety can cause enough mental strain to trigger suicidal thoughts and tendencies outside of mental illness and well-known risk factors makes it very dangerous.  Falling outside of more visible measures of diagnoses before suicide attempts makes it difficult to effectively intervene and provide the right support before it is too late.  Research such as this is vital to fighting against adolescent suicide and existential anxiety through better understanding what adolescents are feeling and the severity of those feelings on their behaviors.  Furthermore, understanding existential anxiety in adolescents makes it easier to develop therapy and treatments to improve a teenager’s sense of self, sense of meaning and purpose in life, and develop a better perception of their environment. 

László Brassai, Bettina F. Piko, and Michael F. Steger (2012) conducted a study in which 432 students in Romania aged 15 to 18 years of age were assessed for “problem behaviors…health behaviors…meaning in life [in relation to existential anxiety] …hopelessness [also in relation to existential anxiety]” to examine negative or positive patterns of behavior associated with existential anxiety outside of depression and suicide ideation.  Like the previous studies, the evaluations were based on the severity of which the participant agreed or disagreed with the statement provided in each of the four factors listed.  Higher levels of negative meaning in life and hopelessness equated to more negative behaviors such as aggressiveness, antisocial behaviors, and a general irresponsibility toward academic work (Brassai et al., 2012, p. 725) while a positive meaning in life and hope led to success in academics.  Not only that, those with a positive meaning in life took better care of themselves and engaged in more healthy and beneficial behavior such as exercising and eating right in the long run (Brassai et al., 2012, p. 728).  The conclusion that “adolescents [with existential anxiety] may struggle to develop beneficial behavioral repertoires in the absence of some certainty that one’s life has meaning and that the future has good things in store” (Brassai et al., 2012, p. 728).  shows that even if existential anxiety does not lead to drastic life altering such as death by suicide, an adolescent is still changed in major ways by struggling to develop healthy behaviors for their own sake. 

Discussion

Though all the studies are interesting and complex in their own ways, they do point out limitations within their research.  Because the four studies used similar methods to obtain evaluations and assessments, they generally have the same problems and limitations.  First and foremost, one of the biggest cited limitations in each study was the method of cross-section which prevents a researcher from being able to draw loose conclusions.  Secondly, future studies concerning depressive and anxiety disorders in relation to existential anxiety should use the updated DSM-5 “diagnoses of anxiety or depression” (Berman et al., 2006) for more concrete and validated measurements rather than more subjective or unapproved definitions or symptoms.  Using this method, future researchers can all record accurate, accepted symptoms for disorders that may develop out of existential anxiety.  Another limitation that was cited was population size: studies that used smaller sample sizes of participants such as in Schnell’s or Brassai’s research have limitations as the data may be seen as only general of that specific region or environment or culture. 

These studies may benefit from using a longitudinal method of collecting information to be able to better assess the development of existential anxiety and the long term detrimental effects it has on adolescents.  Much of the data collected in each research appear was, as described in the work of Tan and colleagues, “quantitative, closed-end measure” (p. 228).  It would be more revealing and informative had the assessments in each study been more open – ended and descriptive to each adolescent’s individual experience with existential anxiety.  In future studies it may also be wise to keep in mind how factors like culture, societal expectations, and education may impact an adolescent’s likelihood of developing severe existential anxiety as teenagers are often placed under varying levels of mental and emotional strain due to these factors and the expectations placed upon them to know who they are and what they should be doing with their lives.  Although existential anxiety in adolescents and its connection to deteriorating disorders like depression are being observed on a global scale, it would be beneficial to learn if certain attitudes and social expectations within a culture are more likely to intensify an adolescent’s existential concerns.  Additionally, future studies would benefit from putting more research in whether biology plays a role in existential anxiety within adolescents.  None of the studies considered how adolescent brain wiring may make adolescents more naturally susceptible to existential concerns as their brains have not finished developing.  Adolescents, with the prefrontal cortex not fully developed until later in adulthood, are prone to more emotional based responses and this could contribute to the impact existential anxiety has on them.

Conclusion and Future Study

To further explore the depths and range of existential anxiety in an effort to treat it, future study may account for the biological implications of existential anxiety in adolescents as it was not addressed in earlier research.  In addition, researchers may be intrigued by the commonplace presence of existential anxiety in adolescents through social media platforms.  Memes, internet content of various medias shared with the intent to humor, shared by adolescents display increasing amounts of existentialism that may implicate a normalization or level of consciousness to this phenomenon.  Researchers can look at how social and political movements, as well as a decrease in religious belief  within the adolescents’ cultures may be impacting their level of existential anxiety.  Overall, future study should create research that defines mental health disorders using official and updated DSM-5 for accuracy and mutual understanding as well as allow more qualitative measures to explore the individual and unique feelings and experiences of adolescents suffering from existential concerns.  Studies should be more long term to properly observe the long lasting effects of existential anxiety on adolescent behavior, mental health, and overall quality of life in comparison to adolescents who have more sense of self and purpose in life.

Questioning one’s identity, purpose, and meaning in life is a normal part of being human and developing a sense of self in the world.  Often times meaninglessness or emptiness or general existential concerns arise without uprooting or derailing a person’s development.  But as evidenced by the four aforementioned studies, excessive existential anxiety can lead to problematic behaviors in social and academic contexts as well as lead to more severe health blows such as depression and suicide ideation.  Thankfully, the increased amount of research being done on adolescent existential anxiety will hopefully limit the grime statistics by providing a gateway to therapy and intervention that can put an adolescent back on the right track to seeing the world and their life in a better light. 

 

 

References

Berman, S. L., Weems, C. F., & Stickle, T. R. (2006, April 29). Existential anxiety in adolescents: Prevalence, structure, association with psychological symptoms and identity development. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 35(3), 285 – 309. Retrieved November 5, 2019, from http://fs6gu4ze5e.search.serialssolutions.com/?sid=google&auinit=T&aulast=Schnell&atitle=Crisis+of+meaning+predicts+suicidality+in+youth+independently+of+depression&id=doi:10.1027/0227-5910/a000503.

Brassai, L., Piko, B. F., & Steger, M. F. (2012). Existential attitudes and Eastern European adolescents’ problems and health behaviors: Highlighting the role of the search for meaning in life. The Psychological Record, 62(4), 719–734.

Camus, A. (1976) Intuitions. The first Camus; An introductory essay & youthful writings. Knopf.

Schnell, T., Gerstner, R., & Krampe, H. (2018). Crisis of meaning predicts suicidality in youth independently of depression. Crisis: The Journal of Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention, 39(4), 294 – 300.

Tan, L., Chen, J., Xia, T., & Hu, J. (2017). Predictors of suicidal ideation among children and adolescents: roles of mental health status and meaning in life. Springer Nature, 47, 219–231.