Humankind’s Existential Crisis Amid COVID-19 Pandemic: A Theoretical Perspective

Abstract

An existential crisis (EC) is a situation in which an individual provokes a storm of dread about the meaning, purpose, or value of life, and is unpleasantly disturbed by a series of thoughts in their lives. With the COVID-19 pandemic, the EC on humankind has further increased across the world. Although scholars have studied the effects of EC on humans, there are limited studies of the pandemic that induces EC in humans. The most neglected area in past research has been the lack of integration between different disciplines to find better solutions for EC disease. This study aims to identify the main factors that influence people’s psychological stigma due to crisis and examine how the previous studies’ contributions, evaluations, and insights on EC are interrelated and biased. This is an independent article based on a literature review. It took more than two months to review entire articles. As the guiding framework of the study, death and meaninglessness, loneliness and social isolation, freedom, and authenticity are emphasized succinctly to deliberate on EC. The study shows the limitations in views and findings with the previous studies including the usage of the jargon related to CE. The experience of death, loneliness, and isolation amid the COVID-19 pandemic isn’t always alluring to many humankind as indicated in the study. Strong integration of psychology and Buddhism may offer the right solutions to overcome the EC during the pandemic. However, a large number of studies, seminars and conferences may need to be initiated by the respective academics and policy makers in order to advocate an integrated approach to the solutions for EC.