Struggling with meaninglessness: a case study from an experiential–existential perspective

Abstract

Meaninglessness is one of the biggest threats of our era. Meaninglessness is not only one of the possible symptoms of depression; meaninglessness as such is a complex experience which can be identified at a micro-dimensional felt sensed level, as a meaning gap at a mesodimensional narrative level, and as groundlessness at a macro-dimensional existential level.Person-centered therapies have explicitly focused on the micro-and meso-dimension of meaning; existential therapies have emphasized the macro-dimensions by helping their clients to face the existential givens such as meaninglessness and meaning. In this article we explore how experiential-existential psychotherapy could help clients in dealing with meaninglessness by addressing this experience with micro-, meso-, and macro-dimensional interventions. A case study reveals how all meaning-dimensions are important, but not at any moment. The client concludes the therapy with discovering what is most essential to him in life. From this experience he finds the courage to engage with life at the fullest, whether it is ultimately meaningful or not.

What is the lived experience of anxiety for people with Parkinson’s? A phenomenological study

“…The loss of control equates to a sense of powerlessness, where individuals perceive that they have no influence over their life [ 106 , 107 ]. Control becomes invested in external forces and fate [ 107 ].Closely tied to powerlessness is ‘meaninglessness’; an invasive feeling of the absence of significance, direction, and/or purpose [ 108 ]. Through a phenomenological lens, it could be seen that the lifeworld experience of anxiety in Parkinson’s is one of increasing powerlessness and subsequent meaninglessness.…”

The mediating role of meaning in life between the therapeutic relationship and therapy outcome in person-centered and experiential psychotherapies

“…Next to the therapeutic relationship as a condition sine qua non, there are three aspects of the therapeutic process that are clearly meaning-related. Vanhooren (2019) called these the micro-, meso-, and macro-dimension of meaning in person-centered, experiential, and existential therapies.…”

“…A third meaning-related aspect of the process of therapy can be understood as a meso-dimension of meaning, which stands for our sedimented meanings such as our self-image, self-narrative and our world assumptions (Vanhooren, 2019). The personcentered therapy process typically leads from a rigid to a more flowing sense of self (Rogers, 1961).…”

The Synthesis and Decoding of Meaning

“…In the absence of affect meaninglessness arises. Feelings that life is empty and meaningless is a common experience of persons with affective disorders (Nichols et al, 2021;Prigerson et al, 2021;Tolentino and Schmidt, 2018;Vanhooren, 2019). Furthermore, The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-5 requires the presence of one of two major criteria, depressed mood or anhedonia, for a diagnosis of major depressive disorder with the presence of anhedonia shown to be indicative of a more severe case (Tolentino and Schmidt, 2018).…”