Every human being is in hell. According to Jean-Paul Sartre, of course. 

Sartre made this statement in the context of freedom, choice, and all of the human responsibility that comes with it. 

An existential mind is almost like a curse; waking up in the morning with the immediate thought of purpose and divinity in one’s head is not the best way to start the day.  

This way of thinking often connects to related philosophies, such as nihilism, which denies the value or meaning of life at all, and absurdism, which questions how humans can be conscious of their own existence in such an unpredictable world.

Absurdism, in particular, messes with one’s mind more than existentialism does. 

“Sartre’s famous phrase is that existence precedes essence,” Nicholas Caltagirone, a philosophy teacher at West Chicago Community High School, said. 

While some people find themselves deep in the rabbit hole of meaning and purpose (and if human beings have either), some create their own or find it within faith (much like existentialism states humans should). 

Many people – teenagers especially – try to figure out what their purpose is through their future career or passions that they have. While some think that meaning and career do not always have to coincide, many think they coexist as the same thing 

“Purpose and career can be fulfilled in the same effort if we can integrate who we are with what we aspire to be,” Staci Parker of the International Honors Society of Psychology said.

Many humans turn to religion for their meaning

“I think it gives me more meaning because Christianity, God, and Jesus are not about control at all; it is about coming as you are and seeking for a greater purpose. We truly do not know why we are here, but that is where faith comes in,” Aaliyah Silva, a devout Christian at WCCHS, said. 

Hobbies, religion, preoccupations, relationships, all of this can be someone’s meaning, their reason for being on earth – but what if this does not satisfy someone? 

The human brain actively relies on the power of knowing; everyone knows what their routine is, whether it be for school or for work. When something ruins that structure, that lack of certainty, it tends to drive people a little insane. 

Many kids love being out of school; a break from all the stress and worry about tests and homework, and all that annoying stuff. 

Three weeks into summer break? That sense of freedom often fades. Everyone starts to feel the lack of structure in the body. Kids tend to go to sleep later and wake up later, making them groggier and less active, which perpetuates the cycle.

“Our brains constantly scan for patterns to predict what comes next – it’s a fundamental survival mechanism,” Tracey Marks of The Mental Wellness Space said.

Most, if not all, religions are centered around a higher power controlling the world in which humans live, and that higher power typically gives people a purpose. Catholics believe that their purpose is to serve God, which can be by spreading the gospel and by living by his rules. Buddhists believe that the purpose of life is to break free from the cycle of suffering, and Taoists think their purpose is to embrace life as it is.

As existentialism is described, there is no inherent or divine meaning in life; human beings must create their own.

Some may think this idea goes against faith.

While existentialism argues against the notion of divine intervention in human purpose, religion relies solely on it. This leads many religions, pastors, and believers to think that existentialism contradicts the Catholic Church, among several other faiths.

“Existentialism is a battle against faith; it is dangerous to mankind,” Ministry Magazine said via print publication.

Because the purpose of existentialism and the purpose of religion go directly against each other, it is hard to imagine those two coexisting in peace.

One of the “fathers of existentialism,” Friedeirck Nietzsche talked about existentialism as a new religion, in a way.

“God is dead,” Nietzsche said.

Instead of meaning that God as a materialistic being was no more, Nietzsche suggested that the purpose of the Catholic church and divine power had “failed” mankind with answers that could now be found somewhere else.

If faith is all about believing, and a human chooses to believe in a faith to find a purpose in life, is that not what existentialism also encourages?

“I think they are asking similar questions,” Caltagirone said.

Religion and existentialism are both centered around the same thing; they both ask the same question: how should humans live their lives?

So when humans ask those questions, they really have those two options – religion and existentialism – which then branch off into millions of other categories. Again, though, they are trying to get at the same idea, the “why” of it all.

Many will argue that religion and existentialism have no similarities – and if they do – they cannot co-exist, but it is quite the opposite. Co-existing and answering the same question with vastly different answers is what existence is all about.

Change

The most common of the bunch. When something major happens in one’s life, such as a divorce, a death in the family, or a major career change, it disrupts a routine, a biological need for human survival. 

A disruption in routine then forces the human brain – specifically the amygdala – to respond to the unfamiliarity of the routine, which can trigger stress hormones.

Stress hormones often trigger the “fight or flight” response – a response forcing the body to either fight the threat sensed or to run away from it. 

Freedom 

Weird one, right? Theoretically, many people want freedom. They want it from parents, their boss, the legal system, from anything. The problem with freedom is when there is too much of it, leading to a loss of structure (again), loss of consequences, an ultimately a loss of responsibility. 

The concept of freedom allows individuals to have absolute control and responsibility for the actions they take. This philosophy challenges traditional determinism, fate, and destiny. 

With radical freedom comes the burden of responsibility and accountability: everything one does is their responsibility, and ultimately, they are at fault. When humans realize they have complete freedom, it can cause feelings of anxiety or anguish because, without divine guidance, the weight of one’s own existence and the choices they make can be too much to bear. 

“The only thing stopping me from doing, quote-unquote, what I should do, at the end of the day, is me,” Caltagirone said. 

Isolation

The one thing every human dreads the most: “existential isolation” means coming to terms that each human being is utterly unique. No one person has the same experience as another. 

In Irvin Yalom’s “Existential Psychotherapy“, Yalom defines inherent loneliness, something every human experiences and has to come to terms with: that one person’s reality and experiences will never be shared and understood by another human being to the full extent. Existence ceases to exist the minute people die, and the minute the last person on earth who remembers someone dies as well. 

“There is an ultimate unbridgeable gap. No matter what our experience is of the world, it is not the same experience as anyone else’s,” Yalom, an American psychotherapist, said. “We are born alone, we live alone, and we die alone.”

Although technically Yalom is correct, many modern therapists think that the way to fight existentialism is through the purity of human connection. 

“One of the greatest factors in helping a child adapt to existentialism is feeling connected with other human beings,” Jessica McBroom, a child therapist, said. “So when a kid is disconnected from human beings, does not feel understood, does not feel seen and known, and tries to integrate this deeper information. It can sometimes be depressing.”