Existentialism

This is the moment of truth. I'm going to try and explain my existentialist thoughts. It's always been fairly difficult for me to do that. There's always been a level of confusion or miscommunication involved. I realized the reason for this in my Philosophy class last semester. It's because there is not a set definition of existentialism. Which is actually very fitting.

Existentialism is a somewhat broad topic. Some philosophers that have been described as existentialists would probably have rejected the title. They believe that "Existence precedes Essence" as opposed to the idea that "Essence precedes Existence". Woah, woah, woah. What? My first reaction to that was a blank stare. The height of lofty philosopher-speak.

"Essence precedes Existence" means that we are here for a purpose. It's a notion that's generally religious in nature, though it doesn't have to be. The purpose is often God or a higher power. God is the means and essence of our existence.

"Existence precedes Essence" is the idea that we infuse our own lives with meaning. We don't necessarily have a purpose. Therefore, we create purpose for ourselves. This sounds like a fairly secular idea, but again, it doesn't have to be. Soren Kierkegaard is a well known existentialist philosopher who attempted to synthesize Christianity and existentialist thought.

Have you ever sat back and been struck by the absurdity of the thought that we are a bunch of beings made up of cell configurations floating through space on what is essentially a big rock? I get that feeling a lot. In one of my classes the other day, my teacher was trying to make a point. She said "How many of you would fight over a big gold coin if I threw it in the center of the room?". Or something along those lines. I was so amused at that thought. You can make humans fight over a shiny piece of metal. I can honestly say that I wouldn't have been one of the people in that fight. I know that, had it been more than a hypothetical situation, many people would have. There's so much absurdity to it all. Which is, not coincidentally, another existentialist idea.

For me, existentialism is best represented through quotes. I used to be an avid viewer of the show Whose Line Is It Anyways. So after taking the philosophy class and realizing that the world is not black and white, but infinite shades of gray; I became fond of using the phrase "Everything's made up and the points don't matter." to describe life. Some more are:

• "I saw that my life was a vast glowing empty page and I could do anything I wanted." -Jack Kerouac
• "I love life. And I do not believe that my life serves a purpose. I do not believe that my life has any meaning." -Michelle Lara Lin
• "People have played on words and pretended to believe that refusing to grant a meaning to life necessarily leads to declaring that it is not worth living. In truth, there is no necessary common measure between these two judgments." -Albert Camus
• "Do not search for the meaning of life around you; it is self defined. If you are given the chance to make a choice, would you surrender the opportunity to your surroundings? It is often incorrect and will be far worse than whatever you could create for yourself. Be your own deciding factor." -Lawrence Beall
• "We're all going to die, all of us, what a circus! That alone should make us love each other but it doesn't. We are terrorized and flattened by trivialities, we are eaten up by nothing." -Charles Bukowski

There are many more brilliant quotes on existentialism and I encourage you to look them up. I think that my favorite of these is Albert Camus's. Too often people view existentialism as inherently negative. I've never had people assume I'm depressed so fast as when I start talking about it. I would be lying if I told you that these ideas have never made me feel lost in the world and deeply conflicted. Not anymore. It really is one of the most beautiful and freeing ideas in the world. You can do anything. Absolutely anything. You give yourself purpose and meaning and you have freedom to define yourself. It's the antithesis to predestination and sitting around moaning about how unfair everything is. When you realize that everything's made up and the points don't matter, you realize that you're free to make your own rules. It gives you confidence because you're not answering to other people and trying to live up to their expectations. You're doing you. 

Gender and Depression

I was doing a discussion forum for my abnormal psychology class and I got pretty into it. So I thought I'd share in case there's any interest. 

The original question: Are women compared to men more naturally inclined to be depressed? Explain your rationale.

My answer (beware: long):
I do not think that women are naturally more inclined to be depressed. Women are not more sensitive or fragile. We're all people with emotions that do not hinge on the basis of gender. I love people and I love getting to know them. In the process of getting to know people, you often begin to learn about their problems; either through observation or them telling you. My own personal experience with depression, in combination with talking to others, has made me realize just how widespread depression is. I was shocked to read that "Woman are about twice as likely as men to be diagnosed with major depressive disorder" (Nevid, Rathus, and Greene). On further reflection, this began to make sense. 

There is a difference I've seen in the way depression is handled. Most of the woman I know who have experienced-- or are still struggling with-- depression have gotten some form of help for it. The men I know are generally different. Some self-describe as depressed. Others have some concerning thoughts and views of life. I'm definitely not a psychologist but my own experience leads me to strongly suspect that depression is at play. They won't even admit it to themselves, let alone seek professional help. This makes me think that the key word in the text was 'diagnosed'. According to Addis and Mahalik, "Several studies have confirmed that men also seek psychiatric services, psychotherapy, and counseling less often than women" (Addis and Mahalik 6). Men cannot be diagnosed with depression if they do not seek help. 

The reasons men don't seem to ask for help as much seems largely societal. According to Simon Rice, "The expression of externalising depression symptoms is theorised to result from socialisation processes and associated conformity to masculine norms emphasising male autonomy, stoicism and invulnerability, where anger is the only negative emotion that men are socially permitted to exhibit" (Rice, Fallon, Aucote, and Moller-Leimkuhler 950). Males are not expected to show signs of weakness, even if they feel weak. This has very negative effects, as "In comparison to females, males are four times more likely to die by suicide" (Rice, Fallon, Aucote, and Moller-Leimkuhler 950). 

So men do not seek help as often as women and they have higher rates of suicide despite the fact that women are twice as likely to receive a depression diagnosis. It seems that diagnosis is not the most reliable indicator of depression, although it is the most commonly looked at. Of course it is! It's not right to go around telling people that they're depressed when they didn't ask for your help. Indeed, they cannot be accurately diagnosed if they don't ask for help. The statistical representation of people who are not receiving medical or psychiatric help for depression cannot, by definition, be known! There is correlation between gender and depression on several fronts. Woman may, in fact, be more depressed than men. It probably doesn't help that they're more often victims of sexual assault and domestic violence. However, until the proportion of men getting help for their depression is closer to the proportion of women getting help for their depression, diagnostic rates cannot be the standard for thinking that women are more inclined to be depressed. 

Works Cited

Addis, Michael E., and James R. Mahalik. "Men, Masculinity, and the Contexts of Help Seeking." American Psychologist 58.1 (2003): 5-14. Print. 

Nevid, Jeffrey S., Spencer A. Rathus, and Beverly Greene. Abnormal Psychology in a Changing World. 9th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1997. Print.

Rice, Simon M., Barry J. Fallon, Helen M. Aucote, and Anne Maria Moler-Leimkuhler. "Development and Preliminary Validation of the Male Depression Risk Scale: Furthering the Assessment of Depression in Men." Journal of Affective Disorders 151.3 (2013): 950-58. Print.