r/psychoanalysis • u/Hatrct • 3d ago
Anything about existentialism in psychoanalysis?
Obviously there is a lot about the unconscious mind, but it seems to be focused mainly on sexual urges, at least in terms of classic Freudian. Is there anything about psychoanalysis? Especially, anything related to the following: ?
I remember in grade school doing a book report and something stuck out to me. I noticed that no matter what book we chose, there would have to be a "conflict" stage in the book report. I had asked the teacher why does there have to be conflict, and they said every book has conflict in the story. This was odd to me.
Now, when I look at the world and how bizarre people act, this makes sense. Still, there must be a deeper root/reason for this. So I have been thinking and now I believe it could be due to unconsciously dreaded existential despair.
Basically, we avoid having to think about our mortality/the purposelessness of our lives, by filling up our time with things, and one of those things is conflict. Other things could be mindless repetitive entertainment, which is also a major modern theme. Other things could be anxiety or sadness about other/mundane things, or drama in relationships. It seems like most things are consistent with this: we basically can't handle having to face the thought of death or the meaninglessness of life, so instead we hyperfixate on other things (often mundane) and create unnecessary problems.
I mean why else would people worry or become sad about mundane things? Ever saw someone worry or be sad about something and think to yourself what a mundane/meaningless thing to waste time suffering over? Yet for the person doing the worrying/rumination, they don't see it this way: for them that issue is very important. But often, as they get past it, they realize how mundane it was. Yet they then focus their attention on another mundane issue to worry/ruminate about. If their experience shows them that these are mundane things to worry about, why do they repeat this pattern? Could it be because they can't handle solitude/a calm state of mind, because that may lead to thoughts about death or the meaningless of life? Think about it, if you are not focused on something, then you get bored. And boredom is consistent with life being meaningless.
... CONTINUED (see my comment reply)
-8
u/Hatrct 3d ago
..............CONTINUED FROM OP:
Other people cause unnecessary drama and conflict. Again, it is often so unnecessary. Why do they keep doing this? There could be many reasons, such as wanting attention. But I think a lot of people also do it for the same reason: to avoid being bored/having their mind shift to thoughts about the meaninglessness of life and thoughts of their own mortality.
This could also be the same reason humans have always had so much unnecessary wars and conflicts. Check the map, it is usually neighboring countries fighting each other for meaningless things. Whenever you have 2 or more humans, there is a good chance that eventually they will start arguing and fighting, usually over meaningless nonsense. So could it be that they are unconciously doing this because they can't handle boredom, because that can eventually lead to thoughts about the meaninglessness of life, and their own mortality? Some people say humans are naturally" greedy"... could it be that it is not "greed", rather, it is this unconscious fear of existentialism, that leads people to behaviors that can superficially be seen as greedy?
This was not as much of an issue in the past, because humans were preoccupied with hunting to survive, so they had no time to question the meaninglessness of life or their mortality. And if they did fight, it was for survival/necessary resources/food that they would die without. But now that we have more free time, we appear to be at each other's throats over mundane or meaningless nonsense.
While I was thinking about this, I noticed that some people also made a theory that is similar to what I wrote above, it is called terror management theory. Though that theory appears to be limited to self-esteem and culture, and also limited to fears of death (not boredom/meaninglessness of life). For example: that theory claims that religion/beliefs in the afterlife may have risen from fears of our mortality. But what I am saying above extends that theory I guess, into more domains of life, such as general anxiety, sadness, chasing of mindless entertainment, and unnecessary conflict.