20 signs of an existential crisis

The main reason for the next crisis is change, new living conditions or situations. They don’t have to be negative. This may be the end of the institute, the beginning of a professional activity, a wedding, the birth of a first child, moving to another city, retirement. They are accompanied by significant difficulties, reorganization of behavior and consciousness, emotional stress. How can an existential crisis manifest itself?

1. You sleep much more or less than before.

A crisis is a source of stress, in such a situation the body survives as best it can. As a result, we either sleep until noon, or suffer from insomnia, grinding disturbing thoughts.

2. You compare yourself to friends who are successful.

Yesterday you were not interested in what happened to Lyudmila, a former classmate. And today you suffer from the fact that, unlike you, she has a huge apartment in the center of the capital and she goes on vacation abroad four times a year. At the same time, your own successes seem completely insignificant to you, and you willingly label yourself as a loser.

3. You don’t seem to be appreciated.

More recently, at work and in the family, everything was fine. But suddenly the phrases or jokes of colleagues, superiors or family members begin to seem caustic, annoying. You withdraw into yourself, complaining about the injustice of loved ones.

4. Difficulty concentrating

Concentration is easy when we are confident and not tense. And if we are tired, “burned out” at work, it becomes more and more difficult to concentrate – even on simple or seemingly simple tasks.

5. I want to quit everything and go to the ends of the world

When it is impossible to continue to live as before, there is a thirst for change. It seems that in order to start a new life, it is enough to throw things into a suitcase and buy a ticket to an unknown destination.

6. Mood changes several times a day

Five minutes ago everything was fine, but now everything is disgusting. The nervous and hormonal systems fail, the composition of the blood also changes. This cannot but affect your mood: you were jumping for joy, now you are ready to sink into the ground from shame.

7. Shopping more than usual

I want to abstract from imaginary or real difficulties with the help of shopping. Shopping creates the illusion of happiness, but not for long.

8. You have no desire to cook

If earlier you were happy to cook delicious dishes for your loved one, now there is no desire to cook or share a meal with someone.

9. You are disgusted with your partner.

If you are uncomfortable with your partner’s company, your couple is in crisis. You suddenly realize that he is not neat or chews too loudly, although before you could stay together in bed until noon, forgetting about the shower.

10. You are overcome by nostalgia.

When it is difficult for a person, he often turns to the past, looks back, believing that everything was wonderful before.

11. You feel apathy

You cannot do anything, do anything. Often complain, need moral or material support.

12. You are not happy about the upcoming vacation.

If earlier you dreamed of a vacation, bought tickets six months in advance, made a list of places to visit, today, although there is only a month left before the vacation, you do nothing to prepare it.

13. Your appetite changes

Stress often changes eating habits. A person either starts to eat everything in a row, or forgets about food, skipping lunch or dinner and not noticing it.

14. You no longer dream

We all have fantasies: write a novel, visit the country of our dreams, buy a pair of expensive shoes. During a crisis, the imagination goes dormant.

15. You cling to old friends.

It’s great if you managed to keep the childhood friendship. But often over time, interests diverge, friends are lost. This is the norm. But what is not normal is a fierce desire to make friends again with school friends with whom you have had nothing in common for a long time.

16. You do not follow the daily routine

Skip sports, eat a lot at night. Pretending to be sick, don’t go to work. You are ashamed of this lie, but you cannot do otherwise.

17. You constantly ask for forgiveness

Self-confidence is a characteristic of mature individuals. But during a crisis, a person experiences painful shyness and constantly – when necessary and when not necessary – asks him to forgive.

18. You can no longer multitask.

Being able to complete different tasks throughout the day is a great skill. But if you can no longer work in this mode, it annoys and tires you – this is a signal. By the way, during a crisis, people often invent unnecessary things and meetings for themselves, so as not to look for something that really brings them pleasure.

19. You are afraid

You do not know what you will do next year: where to work, live. Uncertainty makes you fearful, you constantly think about the bad things that will “definitely” happen.

20. You don’t believe in other people’s support.

Everyone has their worries, it’s true. But this does not mean at all that no one will come to your aid in difficult times. Experiencing a crisis, we lose objectivity of judgment, we cannot adequately assess the situation in order to understand who to turn to for help.

What to do if you have an existential crisis

First of all, you need to slow down, learn to rest and relax. This is not easy, especially if you are persistent in achieving a goal. But if you don’t stop yourself, life will do it for you.

Sometimes it’s enough to take a break for a day, or even better, go on vacation for a week. You can use this time for information detoxification: turn off your smartphone, do not use the Internet. Then, having accepted yourself as you are, you need to return to your priorities.

After setting new goals, you need to develop a plan and take action: send a resume, go to an important meeting, chat with the right people.

The main rule of overcoming the next life crisis is not to hide your head in the sand. And after a reasonable introspection, try to transform your “finds” into a specific achievable result.