Existential vacuum according to Frankl

2024 Author: Miguel Ramacey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 06:11

Animals live simply - they have natural instincts that tell them what to do. They do not have any special desires and aspirations, except for the satisfaction of their own needs. As for people, everything is not so simple here. A person has desires and aspirations, and these are often shaped by the society in which he lives. Therefore, it used to be like this: there were various traditions, religion had a strong and dominant position in society, and a person always had a spark that led him forward. In the modern world, everything is much more complicated, and many people begin to experience an existential vacuum. What it is? This is what will be discussed in this article. You will understand what an existential vacuum is, identify its root causes, learn about its consequences, and also get an idea of how to overcome this vacuum.

What is this?

So, first of all, of course, it is necessary to give the concept of existential vacuum a definition that will allow you to further navigate the information that you will receive with the help of this article. The first to introduce this term was Viktor Frankl, who designated it asthe opposite of peak experience, which was previously described by Maslow. So what is it?

Existential vacuum is a state of inner emptiness experienced by a person who has lost all the goals of his life and does not see the meaning of his existence. Frankl described it as "experiencing the abyss", that is, a person finds himself in the abyss of the meaninglessness of existence, experiencing an existential crisis of the most serious form. It may surprise you, but so many people experience this vacuum at one time or another in their lives, and for various reasons. Frankl himself identifies a few key ones that you should be guided by if you want to fully understand this phenomenon.

Differences from animals

This article began with a description of exactly how animals exist, and this was done for a reason. For them, an existential vacuum is something that cannot manifest by nature. Why? The fact is that animals have certain natural instincts and aspirations that are programmed into them at the genetic level. All these desires are basic and primitive, that is, animals want to support their existence with food, water and sleep, they need a safe place to sleep, where dangerous predators cannot reach them, and they also want to reproduce. They don't have any higher level values to gain and lose. Accordingly, animals never feel an existential vacuum, as their desires and needs are always satisfied. Animal notmay stop wanting to eat, because if it does, it will die.

People are different. They have values and aspirations of a higher order, without which a person descends to the level of an animal. But even here everything is not so simple, because, being at the level of an animal, a person retains his developed mind, therefore he feels that there are no values of a higher order in his life. It is this feeling of emptiness that is the phenomenon considered in this article. Unlike the basic instincts that are programmed in the head of every animal and human, desires of a higher level are not genetically embedded, so there are no mechanisms in the body that tell a person that without them it will be bad. That is why there is an existential vacuum, existential frustration, existential emptiness, and so on. But this is not the only reason, so you should prepare yourself to deal with several other factors that influence this phenomenon.

Traditions and values

The existential vacuum of Viktor Frankl also manifests itself for the reason that modern values, traditions and agreements cannot show a person the right path. This was also briefly mentioned at the beginning of the article. The fact is that in the past the system of people was very different from what is observed today. Previously, there were clear value systems, various overt and unspoken agreements, as well as centuries-old traditions that a person had tostick to. As a result, he always had a pattern, always had a purpose in life. Now, all this has been greatly weakened over the past decades, so traditions and values can no longer serve as a specific reference point for a person. Accordingly, he cannot make independent decisions. According to Frankl, the existential vacuum is a very dangerous condition, as it can lead to serious mental illness. Even not on such a serious scale, we can safely say that this vacuum can have a very negative impact on a person's social life. How exactly? Frankl himself described that the results of this problem are that people turn into conformism or totalitarianism, which greatly affects their lives.

Conformity and totalitarianism

As V. Frankl wrote, an existential vacuum is a void created inside a person by the absence of any goals and aspirations. But the person himself at the moment of such weakness is not in a vacuum, therefore various external factors influence him. And it has an effect on the psyche. The most common direction of a person suffering from such a vacuum is the conversion to conformism or totalitarianism.

In simple terms, conformism is a view of life in which a person does the same thing as everyone around him. Conformity is the most popular current in the West, and a person who has no goals and values left is very likely to turn to it. He startslook for these values on the side, referring to what is most popular at the moment. Naturally, this is better than the mental disorder that the vacuum discussed in this article can lead to, but a person who turns into conformism gradually loses his personality. He becomes part of the crowd, which is not a full life and inevitably leads to a negative impact on the psyche.

As for totalitarianism, unlike conformism, it is a more popular consequence of the vacuum in the East. Totalitarianism is a view of the world in which a person does what others demand of him. The essence remains the same, but the impact is even less pleasant, since a person actually becomes a slave to others, doing what he may not even like. But since he does not have his own views and values, he does what others demand of him, since this is how the hierarchy system in the East works.

So now you understand how dangerous an existential vacuum can be. In psychology, this phenomenon is considered very actively, since in modern society the spread of vacuum occurs much faster than in any other period of time.

Reductionism

As well as conformism in the West, the cause and effect of the existential vacuum is also such a thing as reductionism. What it is? This is a rather interesting phenomenon that is most common in the United States of America. Within the framework of human reductionismthey are not considered as a rational being, capable of having their own thoughts and ideas, making decisions and doing something to achieve their own goals. It is considered rather as a combination of drives and instincts, that is, they are unable to make independent decisions, and all their actions are dictated by the reaction to external factors, as well as protective mechanisms. Naturally, such an approach cannot evoke a positive reaction in people, and stronger personalities are able to abstract from these reductionist opinions of the public, following their own path. But for the most part, people are not strong personalities, so reductionism turns out to be one of the most important and decisive factors in the spread of an existential vacuum in modern society.

Now you know most of the necessary information about what an existential vacuum is: what it is, what could be the causes of this vacuum, and what it can eventually lead to. But that's not all there is to say about this phenomenon.

Noogenic neurosis

Now you have an idea of what the existential vacuum is and what causes it. Now it's time to consider its consequences in more detail. It turns out that they can be much more terrible than conformism. Therefore, it is worth taking a look at a new term that you may not yet know - this is a noogenic neurosis. Existential vacuum and noogenic neurosis are strongly linked, and the latter is negative.consequence of the first. What it is? This is a specific neuroticization of a person, which does not appear on a psychological basis, like most traditional neuroses, but on a noological one. This means that the disease manifests itself in the spiritual sphere of human existence. Now you know what an existential vacuum and noogenic neurosis are, so you should begin to understand how serious this problem can be. The fact is that this neurosis arises on the basis of a person’s inability to have goals, high values and, of course, the meaning of life. Accordingly, it can cause serious problems, so it must be treated medically. If a person was just experiencing a mild existential crisis, they are more likely to be able to get out of it. But if the problem has already reached such a high level, then the intervention of a specialist is necessary.

Features of the disease

One of the main features of existential emptiness is the fact that a person may not be aware of its presence. As mentioned above, the void often seeks to be filled on its own, but at the same time it is filled with far from what it should be. Full-fledged goals, aspirations, values and meanings are replaced by false ones. This happens in a rather primitive way: a person begins to get involved in alcohol, drugs, in some people this manifests itself in the extreme stages of workaholism, and someone seeks to tickle the nerves in order to feel alive, endangering everything that he has. Frankl himselfstated that 80 percent of alcoholics and 100 percent of drug addicts go through a state of existential vacuum, which is why their addictions are formed.

Logotherapy - what is it?

But how do you deal with the existential vacuum, since it is so dangerous? Doctors, psychologists and psychiatrists continue to search for the best treatment options to this day, but one of the most effective now is the one that was invented by Frankl himself, who defined the very concept of such a vacuum. This method is called logotherapy, and its main goal is to help the patient regain the meaning of life. Simply put, a doctor should help a person gradually discover the lost meaning of life, demonstrating that this meaning has not completely disappeared, but just lies on the far shelves of consciousness and is waiting for the moment when it will finally begin to be realized. Also, the doctor must help the patient regain the will to the meaning of life, since it is she who plays the most important role in order for the person to be able to fully function again.

What is logotherapy not?

However, you should understand that logotherapy is not a standard approach that has been around for a long time. That is, the doctor does not act as a specialist who helps the patient to reflect on the meaning of life, he also does not read him any sermons. Logotherapy aims at human awareness of the very world of meaning and values.

Key reading for those interested

If you are interested in the topic of existential emptiness, then you should definitely check outprofessional literature on the subject. Naturally, first of all, we are talking directly about the works of Frankl, which are the source of this phenomenon, as well as the source of all logotherapy and understanding of noogenic neurosis. Of course, other authors have also contributed to the study of this area. For example, Aleksey Bolshanin published a very important book called Emptiness and Existential Vacuum: Prospects for Existential Therapy. From the title, you can already understand what it is about: the author describes this phenomenon in detail, and also expresses his opinion on how such a problem should be treated and, of course, predicts how this area will develop in the future. So, if you are interested in logotherapy, existential vacuum and noogenic neurosis, then there will be plenty of literature for you to familiarize yourself with.