Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
1 1) Professor of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran. 2) Research Center of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
2 Ph. D. candidate in Psychology. Working Group on Development of Knowledge of Psychiatry and Psychology,, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Iran. Tabriz
Abstract
COVID-19 pandemic crisis has put everyone in the most vulnerable position, facing the onslaught death. The contemporary human beings used to see themselves as very safe and far from death. However, the COVID-19 crisis has greatly increased the likelihood of death, guiding a large number of people to their deepest psychological conflicts: being versus non-being, life versus death. Reactivation of the basic conflicts of the human psyche by events in the external world are among the most effective factors of psychic states and behaviors. Considerable events, particularly those with disastrous consequences, can reactivate the most fundamental conflicts of the human soul, the conflicts about being versus nonbeing, with the resultant emergence of existential anxiety and astonishment! Attracting the attention of the contemporary humans to their being and the profound comprehension of the inevitable nonbeing would guide towards new approaches which are in accordance with Paul Tillich’s formulations, regarding types and expressions of existential anxiety. Ought to be in mind that these approaches would not be necessarily positive or negative, thereby the possibility of the emergence of nonproductive and even destructive approaches lies ahead, though the vice versa is also true
Highlights
COVID-19 pandemic crisis has put everyone in the most vulnerable position facing the onslaught death. Decades have passed since the last deadly pandemics that sacrificed humans widely, and humans have never been as defenseless against a deadly agent as they are now against the COVID-19 that crosses borders and leaves no one safe. The contemporary human beings used to see themselves as very safe and far from death. While one is in a prosperous and safe country following the principles of physical health, the chance of dying earlier than normal life expectancy, would be very low. However, the COVID-19 crisis has greatly increased the likelihood of death guiding a large number of people to their deepest psychological conflicts: being versus non-being, life versus death.
COVID-19
COVID-19 is a recently emerged fatal viral disease. The responsible pathogen belongs to the Coronavirus family, with primary signs and symptoms including pneumonia, fever, malaise and muscular aches. Unfortunately contagiousness is high and fatal qualities has turned the disease into the most dreadful infectious disease in the recent decade. Emergence of COVID-19 has seriously confronted the contemporary human being with the concepts of death versus living and being versus nonbeing, concepts adjacent to the fundamental conflicts of existential philosophy, particularly Martin Heidegger’s thoughts.
Martin Heidegger and comprehension of existence
Martin Heidegger is among the greatest philosophers since Plato’s era. His philosophy was the most consistent endeavor to release the modern philosophy from the dominancy of the “substance”. He noticed that there is a distance and a dichotomy between human and his existence, which is the consequence of the human’s ignorance about his existence. The outset of his philosophy appears with the definition of “Dasein” as the contemplative creature.
Dasein
“Dasein”, according to Heidegger, is a being for whom being is a question. Dasein is a being who is aware of his existence. His awareness of himself depends to the awareness of existence, and the existence needs human for its appearance. Dasein is a temporal being and his characteristic feature is being-in-the-world. According to Heidegger, Dasein becomes aware of his being, then comprehends that his being after a while will be transformed to nonbeing (i.e. death), Thereby, a distance between this being and nonbeing is defined as “time”. So, with understanding of being, Dasein notices nonbeing and time, and the consequence of all these understandings, could induce a mental rummage known as the “existential anxiety”.
Existential anxiety
“Existential anxiety” is the deepest and most fundamental motive of all human beings. All the approaches mankind reaches while confronting life and its situations, could be the reflection of his self-aware soul confronting existential anxiety! Apparently, the essence of humanity is bounded by “conflicts”, the conflicts occurring from being until nonbeing, from life until death.
Intrapsychic conflicts
Humane behaviors are controlled by an infinite series of conflicts. We, humans, are ceaselessly choosing among choices of our conflicts: to go or to stay, to say or to be silent, to fight or to surrender etc. All the external events and stimuli, affect our states and behaviors, through activating various conflicts. The intrapsychic conflicts have their own hierarchy. Some conflicts are superficial, others have roots as far as our personal history. Some unresolved conflicts could be active and problematic for long periods, even as long as a lifetime. For example unresolved conflicts regarding “oedipal period” could interfere in the relationships of the person with authority figures for a long time. Considering the Dasein’s basic definition, it is evident that the deepest and most fundamental conflicts of mankind is about being versus nonbeing or as Shakespeare states, “to be or not to be!”
Hierarchical levels of self-awareness
Robert Cloninger, who introduced the famous personality model of “temperament and character”, with delicate and prosperous definitions of mental growth, has demarcated the levels of human self-awareness with 5 hierarchical levels of: 1) awareness of being, 2) awareness of free will, 3) awareness of beauty, 4) awareness of truth, and ultimately 5) awareness of goodness. The most basic level is “awareness of being”, which is in accordance with Dasein’s understanding of being versus nonbeing. This basic awareness induces the emergence of the corresponding emotion which is actually “existential anxiety”. It is evident that fatal biologic disasters as the COVID-19 could inevitably activate conflicts as basic and fundamental as the conflict of being and nonbeing, with full appearance of “existential anxiety”. What would be the consequences of “existential anxiety”? In order to answer the above question, we should first know the types of “existential anxiety”.
Paul Tilich and the types of existential anxiety
Paul Tilich, the German-American existentialist philosopher and theologist, has defined existential anxiety as ultimate concerns regarding life itself, including issues related to meaninglessness, death, fundamental loneliness and lack of certainty. He divided existential anxiety into three distinctive types: 1) Anxiety of fate and death: Fate means the forces which control the individual’s life and the individual has no control on them. Dying is the ultimate fate! 2) Anxiety of emptiness and meaninglessness: Because man is a self-conscious being, he needs self-affirmation, and for this aim, he needs to be creative, enough to own authentic goals, values and purposes. Lack of the above-mentioned could take an individual towards feelings about nothingness. 3) Anxiety of guilt and condemnation: Being of mankind, whose nature is to actualize himself, is not only given to him, but also a demand of him. Ignoring the existential duties can result in feelings around guilt and condemnation.
Conclusion
Reactivation of the basic conflicts of human psyche by events in the external world are among the most effective factors of human psychic states and behaviors. Considerable events, especially with disastrous consequences can reactivate the deepest conflicts of human soul and awareness. The crisis caused by COVID-19 and its fatal consequences has been considerable enough to reactivate such deep conflicts. Self- awareness, in its purest definition, is actually equal to Dasein roots: the level in which the dominant conflict is “being versus nonbeing”, and the dominant emotion is the resultant existential anxiety and astonishment! Attracting the attention of the contemporary human to his being and deep understanding of the inevitable nonbeing, would guide human towards new approaches which are in accordance with Paul Tillich’s formulations regarding the types and expressions of existential anxiety. New approaches like being more attentive to their life and spending more time to search for meaning and love and creativity. Ought to be in mind that these approaches would not be necessarily positive or negative, thereby the possibility of the emergence of nonproductive and even destructive approaches lies ahead, though the vice versa is also true.
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