Existential Crisis... Have you had one?

[Fiz_The_Toaster]

I had one when I was thirteen, and we don't talk about that time since it was.....bad.

It went on for several months, and longer than I probably should have let it.

I didn't know what I was doing with it or what was happening until I talked to one of my teachers since she noticed I seemed off. She told me to stop wallowing in it and over thinking everything and just focus on stuff that matters to me. Also to find something that I like doing and just do that, which was playing music and playing games, and that helped a lot.

It took some time, but I eventually got over it.

 

[Pebkio]

Had an existential crisis? Let me tell you, my LIFE is an existential crisis. My choices represent the holding pattern that is the very causality of life. And I'm the best damned rock in all of the storms of existence.

 

[MiskWisk]

Had a minor one around 13. I'd watched a lot of "End of the World" movies and started having dreams of the world ending with everyone except me having something to do. That was seriously the worst part, I felt like nothing I did would ever matter because the moment I'm gone, that's it, even if I did something memorable, no one would remember it and if they did, it wouldn't last long.

Then I just thought, fine then, as long as I feel like I've done something good, I'll be fine.

 

[Private Custard]

I kinda had one of those once. Here are the steps I took to resolve it.

1. Went to GP. Was given a sample of SSRIs in a brown paper bag with hand-written dosage instructions scribbled on it.
2. Took a dose. Went nuts for a day.
3. Researched those particular pills. Discovered the horrific side-effects which the doctor gave me no warning of. Vowed

Seroxat by any chance? They're one I never tried.....for good reasons.

It's been so long I don't clearly remember, but I think it was Celexa.

Though frankly, I think it's irresponsible to the point of criminal negligence for a Dr. to give any medication without documentation.

Aah, brand name version of citalopram, same as cipramil (one of a few that I took). Side effects weren't too bad for me....I just hated the constant belching/gas build-up, leg twitching and general spaceyness.

Tricyclics, now they were an extreme for me (Dothiepin).

 

[Relish in Chaos]

I have existential crises all the fucking time, because I?m depressed and think a lot. Sometimes, I could just be sitting down with my friends, and I feel?nothing. I?d feel empty, and I?d get so absorbed in my negative thoughts about myself and life that I just say to myself, ?You know what? I don?t care anymore. I don?t care what happens me. Someone or something just kill me now, because I?m fed up of this bullshit. There?s so much weird shit that could happen to me or the people I love right now, and I?m so scared and confused I don?t even want to live anymore.?

Essentially, I know that I?m insignificant, I know that all humans are insignificant, and eventually, everyone I know, including myself, will die and disappear into the dustbin of history.

But whatever. I?ve never actually attempted suicide; not seriously, anyway. I?ll make my own meaning in life. If there is a meaning in life (which there?s not; ?meaning? in anything is nothing more than a social construct), then it?s just for people to live and die, since that?s what humans are best at. Living and dying.

I personally want to become a writer and obtain enough money to have the comfortable lifestyle I?ve always desired.

 

[NightmareExpress]

I think you need to have at least one to really "grow up".
You see the world for what it really is for the first time and it devastates you.
Then you make an effort to be happy again. Build up your reasons why.
Then you continue on.

If there's something that I've learned in my lifetime, is that there seems to be more effort involved in being happy than there is in being miserable. I try to maintain a happy/neutral. You can shatter from happiness and you can drown in sorrow. I like to...not do either of those things.

So, to answer the title I'd say yes that I've had one and every once in a while it lingers near.
But I fight it off.

 

[Nadia Castle]

I feel that most days, but then I just think of the wise words of Yahtzee " Maybe all gaming is pointless, just toying with the gravel on the big road of life. But hey, at least there's violence and tits!"

 

[TheRightToArmBears]

I'm a moody teen, of course I have. I guess I've never really concerned myself with fate or whatever (I firmly believe there is no higher power or any such crap), but I've wondered what the point of it all is. Specifically for me that is, not for life in general; I just wondered what I'm doing with my life and if it's worth it, not if life itself has a meaning.

 

[Astoria]

It bothers me from time to time but the way I deal with it is realising that no matter how much I worry it won't change anything so it's better just to go along trying not to think about it. I do think that our lives are already determined to some extent but you do have choices along the way.

 

[Olas]

Nah, I'm happy with how I worked it out. There is no such thing as free will, all just chemicals having reactions and stuff, but I'm pretty content going along with it and enjoying myself. That is my one philosophy, just to enjoy things to the maximum level. Sometimes kills my foresight, but generally I'm really content with things.

I don't really get all this whining about free will. We are logical and highly intelligent beings. We're smart enough to understand what we are doing and why we are doing it. Every action we take is a voluntary one based on a choice that is made for a reason that we understand and decide upon before we make it. We're autonomous.
What more could you really ask for? Would you rather our actions just be completely random?

 

[Korolev]

I used to have them when I was younger. Before I knew about biology and chemistry and physics. That's one of the perks about learning science - it gives you a wider perspective.

What is the point of our lives? Well, that's the thing - the Universe or God or Nature (whatever you want to call it) doesn't give us one. Why are you here? Because two human beings copulated and genetic material was exchanged and an egg was fertilized and you developed according to the laws of physics, chemistry and biology along a path determined by your genetics. That's why you're here. That's the only reason why any of us are here.

The universe doesn't care about us, or at least, not in any way that I can fathom. Things just happen due to long chains of causes and events over the course of time. Humans care about each other - the rest of the universe, not so much.

When it comes to dealing with an existential crisis, one has to deal with THEIR reason for living. You're not given one by the universe. At best you're given a reason for living by other people, but usually we have to come up with a reason ourselves. That's what you've got to do - come up with an internal reason for living, one that won't change easily. My reason for living, selfish as it is, is because I'm interested in seeing stuff happen. I'm curious about the world, curious about what will happen in history, regardless of whether it's good or bad.

 

[Arakasi]

I suppose? Maybe when I was 14?

I can't tell if the results of my life are the product of my own choices or a predetermined path.

Bolded the correct answer, in my opinion anyway, some could say it is partially the product of random chance too.
I don't see how it matters though, just keep living, if you enjoy what you do, continue doing it, if you don't, stop. Hammertime.

 

[Yopaz]

This haunts me every morning. Life feels pointless. Life is hollow. My life is nothing. If I died that wouldn't have any impact on the world. It's like tossing a pebble in the ocean. There are some ripples, but there's no change.

Then I have my morning cup of coffee and I feel awesome.

However to be a little more serious I don't believe my life matters to anyone besides me and my friends. I wont leave the world as a better place than the world that I first come to, but does it really matter? I can try to make a difference and I can enjoy life and what it has to offer.

 

[NosceTeIpsum]

I've had periodic panic attacks to do with fearing death, ever since I lost my religion.

In November I got something like this full on. Fearing death, fearing ageing, fearing how short life is, fearing eternal non-existence, fearing how futile life is no matter how good or bad it is. Preys on your thoughts all the time. It peaked around Christmas time. Worst thing about it is feeling that even if I got over it I'd just be ignoring the problem I've realised here.

"Death is nothing to us, since when we are, death has not come, and when death has come, we are not." -Epicurus

This thought has been helpful to me in the face of circumstances similar to those you describe.

 

[Loop Stricken]

Existential Crisis... Have you had one?

Not really, only almost every day.

It's far worse when you think about being dead. An eternity of nothingness, and not even realising it.

 

[Lynx]

I have had a few scares about death. Not me dying, but everyone else.

A few months ago it hit me, really hit me, that the day my father or mother dies is the last time we'll ever have had a chance of seeing each other. That I will, very likely, live years or maybe decades after that without ever seeing them or hearing their voice or talking with them about all sorts of stupid things. My memories will be all that remain. I also realized that either me or the man I love will likely have to outlive the other, and that in my family of five siblings, someone will be last.

I managed to visualize this future so vividly in my head that I gave myself a panic attack of sorts. And with a pang I suddenly realized why some people need faith in an afterlife to even get up in the morning.

 

[Mr.Cynic88]

My most recent existential crisis was a period in my early 20's. Basically I was upset that the idealism I learned in grade school wasn't true, and the world is a big bad place. I got over it with the "yes, and?" technique.

"Everyone is out for themselves, and there is no true meaning to life!" "Yes, and....?"

 

[TWRule]

Yes, I certainly have - and such things as angst, ennui, etc., are still things that haunt me - and I've come to think that they haunt everyone who has yet to take the blue pill...

Anyway, the largest one marked a crossroads in my life. At that time, I was either going to give up any will to live, or find some way to do something to address the source of the problem. I spent a lot of time in serious reflection upon my life, reconstructing it from my earliest memories, first with my usual attitude, and then, after remembering some things that brought me a glimmer of confidence, looking over my life again in light of THAT attitude. This process ultimately culminated in an epiphany that lead me to the next step I had to take.

I decided that I would do what I could to open up dialogue about the very problems which lead me to crisis - "How should one live?", "How can one lead a meaningful life?", "What direction should all this be headed in?", etc. To that end, I chose to return to school, study philosophy, where I met some like-minded people who are my companions in the mission to find/create meaning (not the 'every man for himself' individual meaning which is clearly insufficient, but a meaning that can be shared across humanity). I'm now in graduate school, on my way to teaching, so that I can extend the dialogue to others with similar experiences/concerns. I still don't have the answers, but genuinely working to do something about it has kept me from outright nihilism, and validated my concerns by letting me know that I am not alone in struggling with such worries, and they are a serious problem not to be dismissed - indeed probably the single most serious problem one can concern themselves over.