Necessary Suffering? - Investigating Existential Suffering in Youth through Everyday Experiences of Bad Conscience

Abstract


 
 
 The purpose of this article is to develop an account of existential suffering in youth. According to recent studies, a growing amount of young Westerners has come to suffer from mental disorders, stress, and a general lack of well-being. It is suggested however that the massive concern for young people's mental health might risk contributing to an increased pathologization of all kinds of suffering in youth. In continuation hereof the article aims at disclosing a suffering that is not pathological in kind but quite the contrary clings to existence. Based on interviews with three Danish high school students, regarding their experiences of bad conscience in their everyday lives, it is revealed how they suffer from matters conceivable as normative implications of fundamental conditions of existence such as freedom, finitude and the Other. In the end, critical concerns are raised regarding the normative evaluation of existential suffering as a necessity. That is, should we not always be against suffering?
 
 

Præstation og eksistens: Unges kampe med og mod sig selv

“…Eksistentialerne henviser som naevnt til de vilkår, der karakteriserer mennesket, og ikke til den enkeltes personlige psykologi. Endelig mener jeg også, at den eksistentielle taenkning kan bidrage med en belysning af den almenmenneskelige lidelse, der ledsager menneskets eksistentiale vilkår, hvilket er en tilgang til lidelse, der adskiller sig markant fra diagnostiske og standardterapeutiske tilgange 6 (se Meier, 2021). I sin bog Generasjon Prestasjon peger samfundspsykologen Ole Jacob Madsen (2018) netop på, at vi i dag mangler forståelser og sprog til at tale om lidelse i unges liv på måder, der ikke fortrinsvis er diagnostiske eller terapeutiske.…”

Et senmoderne overjeg?

“…Det ubehag, som mange unge oplever i dag, beskrives ofte igennem en diagnostisk diskurs, der i stigende grad gennemtraenger de måder, mennesker forholder sig til deres egne og andres lidelseserfaringer på (Meier, 2021;Rose, 2019, Madsen, 2018Brinkmann, 2019). Ved i denne artikel at tage udgangspunkt i oplevelser af skyld og dårlig samvittighed åbnes der imidlertid for en alternativ forståelsesramme af unges livsproblemer, der udmaerker sig ved at have eksistentielle, kulturelle og moralske koordinater.…”

“…Ved i denne artikel at tage udgangspunkt i oplevelser af skyld og dårlig samvittighed åbnes der imidlertid for en alternativ forståelsesramme af unges livsproblemer, der udmaerker sig ved at have eksistentielle, kulturelle og moralske koordinater. Analysen giver eksempelvis anledning til at spørge, hvorvidt deltagernes oplevelser af dårlig samvittighed rummer en almen eksistentiel dimension (se Meier, 2021). Udgør dissonansen mellem 'er' og 'bør' ikke en almenmenneskelig erfaring?…”

The oughtness of existence: Living and suffering by what we ought

“…By neglecting such qualitative aspects, any existential and moral reasons for people’s suffering are also wiped away. For instance, the experience of bad conscience and feelings of guilt, are among the typical symptom criteria for clinical depression (e.g., Bech et al, 2001, p. 161), and if interpreted alone through a diagnostic lens, they could be reduced to mere symptoms thereof (Meier, 2021, p. 119). However, considered from the arguments laid out through this article, the experience of a bad conscience or the nagging feeling of inadequacy will often point toward people’s shortcomings of acting in accordance with crucial demands by which they live and from which they derive themselves.…”

“…Is there such a thing as unavoidably or even necessary suffering due to the human condition qua oughtness? Should we always be against suffering, or can some kind of suffering be said to be normatively “good” (see Meier, 2021)?…”