It’s easy for animals to live - they have natural instincts that tell them what to do. They do not have any special desires and aspirations, other than meeting their own needs. As for people, then everything is not so simple. A person has desires and aspirations, and they are often formed by the society in which he is located. Therefore, earlier it was like this: there were different traditions, religion had a strong and dominant position in society, and a person always had a light that led him forward. In the modern world, everything is much more complicated, and so 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 main causes, learn about its consequences, and also get an idea of how to overcome this vacuum.
What it is?
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 using this article. The first to introduce the term was Victor Frankl, who identified it as the opposite of the peak experience that Maslow had previously described. So what is it?
An 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 this as “experiencing an abyss,” that is, a person finds himself in an abyss of meaningless existence, experiencing an existential crisis of the most serious form. This may surprise you, but so many people experience this vacuum at one point or another in their lives, and there are various reasons for this. Frankl himself identifies several basic ones that you should be guided by if you want to understand this phenomenon completely.
Differences from animals
This article began with a description of exactly how animals exist, and this was done with good reason. For them, an existential vacuum is something that cannot manifest itself 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 aspirations are basic and primitive, that is, animals want to maintain their existence by food, water and sleep, they need a safe place to sleep, where dangerous predators can not get them, and they also tend to breed. They do not have any higher-level values that can be gained and lost. Accordingly, animals never feel an existential vacuum, as their desires and needs are always satisfied. The animal cannot stop wanting to eat, because if it does, it will die.
In humans, things are different. They have values and aspirations of a higher order, without which a person descends to the level of an animal. But here, everything is not so simple, because, being at the level of an animal, a person retains his developed reason, therefore, he feels that in his life there are no values of a higher order. 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 each animal and person, desires of a higher level are not genetically laid, so there are no mechanisms in the body that suggest that a person would feel bad without them. That is why there is an existential vacuum, existential frustration, existential void, and so on. But this is not the only reason, so you should prepare to deal with a few more factors that affect this phenomenon.
Traditions and Values
Victor Frankl's existential vacuum also appears for the reason that modern values, traditions and conventions 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 vowels and unspoken agreements, as well as centuries-old traditions that a person had to adhere to. As a result, he always had a model; there was always 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 guide for a person. Accordingly, he cannot make independent decisions. Frankl's existential vacuum is a very dangerous condition, as it can lead to serious mental illness. Not even on such a serious scale can we safely say that this vacuum can have a very negative effect on a person’s social life. How exactly? Frankl himself described that the result of this problem is that people turn to conformism or totalitarianism, which greatly affects their lives.
Conformism and Totalitarianism
As W. 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 this has its effect on the psyche. The most frequent direction of a person suffering from such a vacuum is conversion to conformism or totalitarianism.
In simple words, conformism is a view of life in which a person does the same thing as everything around him. Conformism is the most popular trend in the West, and a person who has no goals and values, turns to it with high probability. He begins to look for these values on the side, referring to what is most popular at the moment. Naturally, this is better than a mental disorder, which can result in the vacuum considered in this article, but a person who turns to 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, in contrast to 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 require of him. The essence remains the same, but the impact is even less pleasant, since a person actually becomes a slave to others, doing something that he may not even like. But since he does not have his own views and values, he does what others require of him, since this is how the hierarchy system in the East is organized.
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 is much faster than in any other period of time.
Reductionism
Along with conformism in the West, the cause and effect of an existential vacuum is also such a thing as reductionism. What it is? This is a pretty interesting phenomenon that is most common in the United States of America. In the framework of reductionism, people are not considered as a rational being, able to have their own thoughts and ideas, make decisions and do something to achieve their own goals. It is seen more 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 by protective mechanisms. Naturally, such an approach cannot cause a positive reaction in people, and more powerful 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 is one of the most important and decisive factors in the spread of the existential vacuum in modern society.
Now you know most of the necessary information about what constitutes an existential vacuum: what it is, what may be the reasons for the emergence of this vacuum, and also what it may ultimately lead to. But this is far from all that can be said about this phenomenon.
Noogenic neurosis
Now you have an idea of what the existential vacuum is, as well as its causes. Now, the time has come to examine its consequences in more detail. It turns out that they can be much more scary than conformism. Therefore, it is worth taking a look at a new term that you may not be aware of yet - this is a noogenic neurosis. Existential vacuum and noogenic neurosis are firmly connected, and the latter is a negative consequence of the former. What it is? This is a specific neurotization of a person, which appears not on a psychological basis, like most traditional neuroses, but on a noological basis. This means that the disease manifests itself in the spiritual sphere of human existence. Now you know what 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 from the inability of a person to possess 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 simply experienced a slight existential crisis, he is likely to be able to get out of it. But if the problem has already reached such a high level, then specialist intervention is necessary.
Features of the disease
One of the main features of the existential void is the fact that a person may not be aware of its presence. As mentioned above, a void often tends to fill on its own, but at the same time it is filled not with what it would be worth. 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 and drugs, in some people it manifests itself in the extreme stages of workaholism, and someone tries to tickle his nerves in order to feel alive, jeopardizing everything that he has. Frankl himself stated that 80 percent of alcoholics and 100 percent of drug addicts go through a state of existential vacuum, which is why their dependencies are formed.
Speech therapy - what is it?
But how is it possible to 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, however, 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 disappeared completely, but only lies on the far shelves of consciousness and waits for the moment when it will finally begin to be realized. Also, the doctor should help the patient regain the will to the meaning of life, since it is she who plays the most important role in ensuring that the person can again fully function.
What is not logotherapy?
However, you should understand that speech therapy is not a standard approach that has existed a long time ago. That is, the doctor does not act as a specialist who helps the patient reflect on the meaning of life, he also does not read any sermons to him. Logotherapy aims at the realization by a person of the world itself of meaning and values.
Key literature for those interested
If you are interested in the subject of existential emptiness, then you should definitely familiarize yourself with professional literature on this topic. Naturally, first of all, we are talking directly about Frankl's works themselves, which are the source of this phenomenon, as well as the source of all speech therapy and understanding of noogenic neurosis. Of course, other authors also contributed to the study of this area. For example, Alexey Bolshanin published a very important book entitled “Emptiness and Existential Vacuum: Prospects for Existential Therapy”. From the name you can already understand what it is about: the author describes this phenomenon in detail, and also expresses his opinion on how the treatment of such a problem should be carried out and, of course, predicts how this sphere will develop in the future. So, if you are interested in speech therapy, an existential vacuum and noogenic neurosis, then there will be plenty of literature for acquaintance.