Lost in a Universe of No Inherent Meaning: Psychoanalysis and Existentialism

Abstract

Addressing the patient’s anxieties about the meaning of life and death as integral phenomena of the life cycle is not commonly discussed in the analytic literature. A central dilemma of analytic work is the effort to facilitate change in the life of a suffering patient while also bearing in mind the inescapable human destiny, i.e., the certainty of death. All too often, these factors remain in the background while dealing with other conflicts or misfortunes. The analyst, like the patient, is aware of the brevity of life and is susceptible to the same fate, and thus may feel defenseless, helpless, and limited in what can be offered. This article incorporates the existentialist thinking of Camus on the subject and illuminates it with analytic work with unspoken trauma of a second-generation Holocaust survivor.