The news is open on your phone. Another headline about climate tipping points. Political chaos. Economic instability that seems permanent now. And underneath it all, this question: How am I supposed to care about my mortgage when the icecaps are melting?
Maybe you’re at the grocery store choosing pasta brands, and the absurdity hits you. Here you are, optimizing a Tuesday dinner while ecosystems collapse. Your brain knows you need to eat. Your soul knows nothing feels like it matters.
This weight has a name: this weight.
And no, you’re not being dramatic. You’re awake in a way that sometimes feels like a curse. You see what’s happening. You feel the instability. Meanwhile everyone around you is… planning retirement? Remodeling? Living like the future’s guaranteed?
The disconnect is maddening.
What Does Existential Dread Mean?
Think of it as the anxiety that shows up when you’re staring directly at the big questions. Mortality. Meaning. The fundamental uncertainty of everything. Not in an abstract, philosophical way… in a “how do I function when I’m this aware of how precarious it all is” way.
For previous generations, these questions might’ve surfaced occasionally. Late night conversations. Midlife crises. Moments of reckoning.
For you? It’s Tuesday. It’s constant. Because the evidence is everywhere. Systems failing. Climate destabilizing. Future uncertain.
And this weight is what happens when that awareness doesn’t go away.
It includes: The sense that nothing you do matters against forces this large. Mortality awareness that extends beyond personal death to species death, ecosystem death, civilization death. Recognition that meaning is something we construct, and all our constructions feel inadequate right now. Understanding how little control any individual has. Persistent despair about collective futures.
Regular anxiety has a target. Job. Relationship. Health. Existential dread? The target is existence itself. Not “what if I fail” but “what’s the point of any of this.”
At Holistic Couples & Family, we work with people carrying this. The ones who can’t unsee what they’re seeing. The ones trying to function while the weight of awareness makes everything feel hollow.
What Is an Example of Existential Anxiety?
Here’s what it looks like in real life:
You’re planning retirement savings and think: “Why bother? Climate collapse makes this irrelevant.” What used to feel responsible now feels absurd.
You’re at work completing tasks that feel meaningless. Writing reports. Attending meetings. Thinking: “None of this matters when the world is falling apart.”
You’re considering children and freeze on the question: Is it ethical to bring someone into this?
You watch people living normally and feel alien. They’re shopping for throw pillows. Planning vacations. Excited about promotions. And you’re thinking about resource scarcity and societal unraveling. You can’t engage with their joy because it feels… naive? Disconnected? You don’t know. You just know you can’t access it.
These aren’t just pessimistic thoughts. They’re this weight interfering with your capacity to function like you used to.
What Does Existential Dread Look Like?
In practice, day to day, here’s how it shows up:
You can’t plan ahead. Why save money? Why pursue goals? Future feels uncertain, so planning feels pointless. This is this weight messing with basic adult functioning.
Every decision feels impossible. Choosing is hard because options feel both meaningless and impossibly weighty. You can’t decide because you can’t see the point.
You’re disconnected from daily life. Going through motions without presence. Work, relationships, hobbies… hollow. Nothing significant enough compared to what you’re aware of.
Doom scrolling you can’t stop. Compulsively consuming evidence that things are falling apart. Reinforces the dread but you can’t look away.
Relationships strain. Your partner’s talking vacation plans. You’re thinking ecological collapse. The gap between your awareness and their apparent obliviousness creates distance. This is where Holistic Couples & Family sees this weight causing real relationship damage.
Nothing brings pleasure anymore. Things that used to bring joy feel trivial. Why enjoy anything when you’re aware how temporary and fragile it all is?
Nihilism becomes default. “Nothing matters” isn’t philosophy. It’s crushing belief that saps all motivation.
Your body holds it. Chest tightness. Sleep disruption. Fatigue from carrying constant awareness. Existential dread isn’t just mental.
What Are the 4 Existential Fears?
Understanding these helps make sense of what you’re carrying. Four fundamental human anxieties:
Death (Mortality)
Not just fear of dying. Awareness that everything ends. You. People you love. Humanity. The planet. When this awareness becomes constant rather than occasional, that’s when this weight takes root. And now it’s not just personal mortality. It’s species mortality. Ecosystem collapse. Civilization’s potential end. The scope is overwhelming.
Meaninglessness
What if nothing inherently means anything? What if all meaning is constructed, could disappear? Facing global crises, the meanings we’ve built (career success, material comfort, achievement) feel absurdly small. Existential dread intensifies when you can’t construct meaning that feels sufficient against systemic collapse.
Isolation (Existential Loneliness)
You’re alone in your subjective experience. Always. But when you’re aware of threats others seem oblivious to? That isolation intensifies. You can’t connect with people living normally. They don’t share your awareness. You’re alone in it.
Freedom (Responsibility)
You’re responsible for creating meaning, making choices, with zero certainty about outcomes. This freedom is terrifying. No guidebook. No guarantees. In global crisis context, “what should I do?” has no clear answer. That uncertainty feeds this weight.
Living With This
You can’t think your way out of this weight. The threats are real. Uncertainty is real. But you can learn to function despite it.
Some things that help:
Accept the uncertainty. Stop fighting for certainty in fundamentally uncertain times. That struggle increases suffering.
Find meaning in action despite uncertainty. You can care about climate AND enjoy your garden. Work toward change AND appreciate small moments. Meaning doesn’t require optimism about outcomes.
Connect with others experiencing this. You’re not alone in this weight. Find people who share your awareness. Who don’t need you pretending everything’s fine.
Limit news consumption. Informed is different from immersed-in-catastrophe. Set boundaries.
Act according to values even when it feels futile. The meaning is in the acting itself.
Therapy helps. At Holistic Couples & Family, we help individuals and couples when this weight is creating relationship strain or making functioning impossible. Because carrying this alone is harder than it needs to be.
Is existential dread affecting your relationships or ability to function? Contact Holistic Couples & Family. We help people and couples navigate the profound anxiety of living in unprecedented times. You don’t have to carry this awareness alone.
If you’re experiencing an emergency, please use the information found here.
Location
8 South Michigan Avenue,
Suite 2300
Chicago, IL 60603
