How did you muscle pass that? Did you seek therapy or just hang in there and wait for it to go away? What if it hits frequently?
What keeps me going is my marriage and children. I have very problematic parents (homelessness, drug abuse, divorce). I also have multiple siblings. I have zero support or socializing from any of them.
Having people that rely on me for their well-being and knowing I can provide them a better life than I had is sustaining in the tough moments of dealing with an existential crisis.
It also helps that I strive for mastery of my craft. I’m a software architect and there is lots to learn. Even if it’s true that nothing matters, you have one life. Make it as best as you can. Very few humans can claim mastery in a skill.
One solution for some sanity is mentorship or teaching: Giving your insight to others willing to learn. And this can range from helpful comments to writing a tutorial or even making a video howto about things you know and care about. This type of giving/interaction - at least for me - is like a cooling balm for the sore spots of not being able to discuss one's knowhow because few understand completly as I do. (Note: I'm not talking about pure knowledge or comprehension. I, for example, come knowledgewise from the intersection of IT, journalism and design. People in each area are probably much proficient in their pure "art", but when a problem/challenge touches all three or even only two parts, it seems that I have a different - as I percive it better and faster - understanding.)
2. If this is existential Existential despair/doubt and existential hope are two sides of the same coin.
We don't know what's going on but we are clearly living in an age of exponential increase, wealth, knowledge, capability, etc. people existentially wonder if things have meaning, maybe take an ego check and wonder "what if everything does have meaning?", we don't know, that's just basic intellectual humility, find a new angle to investigate that.
Who knows, maybe if we keep at it and hang in there long enough shit will make sense before we die... but if that doesn't happen, what did we really lose by giving in to existential hope?
However, if you ever improve life for other people, from very small ways (making them happier, helping them with something, relieving some distress, or simply providing companionship) to large ways (helping them through crises - maybe even saving their life) your life is not meaningless to them.
As a result, It motivated me to reframe what it meant for my life to have purpose. I instead started focusing really hard on not making my short amount of time go to waste. I wanted to work on things that had a positive impact on the world, keep humanity evolving intellectually and technologically, hopefully decreasing suffering in the process and more recently I've prioritized building wealth for my future family. We just had a baby and I'm realizing the next important thing I can do is set my son up to have what he needs to make more of a positive impact than I have.
Also personally I discovered there’s a bunch of foods I ate that cause me to start ruminating about things like that. So that helped some.
My family and children are also the center of my life, but be careful how you interpret these anecdotes and advice from others.
I've seen multiple friends seek out building a family aggressively, with unfortunately disastrous results.
Family can be a source of purpose and energy, but it can also be a drain of energy and locus of misery. There's nuance in how you approach it, who you are, and your circumstances. If you try to force building relationships and family for your own fulfillment, be aware that it can be very difficult to change your mind, especially if you have children. You should also think about whether it is ethical to bring people into existence if you yourself are wondering what the point is.
So, while family giving a sense of purpose is true for me and others, you probably shouldn't force that sort of thing, so that information is not practically useful.
And if there is nothing obvious then my mind starts to dig deeper and deeper.
Maybe there is some sort of memory/emotional association here as well.
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fendo.2021.7482...
Turns out it was asparagus. Go figure.
If it happens too often for your liking, or it bums you too much, it might be worth to talk to a therapist about it. Maybe all you need is for a professional to tell you it's normal, or maybe it'll reveal something deeper that you'll want to explore with a therapist. In any case, it's worth investigating if it bothers you.
I have felt a little like you describe at times in the past. Usually it's because I need something new. There's usually something that is interesting, even marginally so, and I try to dive into it. Some idea for a project, something involving some effort. It's very easy to have your life surrounded by sameness, sort of like overly specific recommendation systems. Breaking out of that is useful. You also never really know where something interesting will strike, so go looking for it. Start something new, a new project, a new exercise, a new activity, do something different.
Therapy can be helpful with the right therapist too, if you want to go that route. Just be honest with them and yourself or you won't get anything out of it.
As far as existential crises go, my view is that dedicating yourself to something, and it could be multiple things, tends to solve most of these crises. I look at myself and I have a good salary (for some people it's out of this world), good looks, I'm decently smart and erudite, and sometimes I wonder, is there something more to life? Because I'm getting pretty bored.
And I've found that finding or reinforcing old and new "passions" tends to make my life more engaging and make the pretty useless existential questions go away. It might be writing, or doing jiu jitsu, or watching August Masters with some interest like I'm doing now. It might be dating an interesting man or woman. Learning a new language, visiting a foreign country on my own. So it's dedication and participation. And the practice of autogenic training, which makes us aware of the many hidden tensions we store in our minds and bodies.
1) Quit all forms of passive entertainment. Just forbid yourself these easy sources of dopamine and your brain will perk up and other things will become more interesting.
2) Read Meditations
All of the above.
I suggest you focus on making it your mission. Try therapy, try antidepressants, pay attention to your feelings throughout the day and notice patterns.
A partner, community, or dog often solves the problem for many people. But the first two are of course hard to obtain.
Consulting a psychiatrist to ensure it's not a depression is a good idea though. If not, some psychologists are specialized in existential crisis ; it's called "logotherapy".
It could also be the result of a logical and intelligent thought process. I think anyone that follows the data and truth will eventually come to an existential break down that reframes their mind. Especially if they were raised religious, but that facade starts to crack.