Definition
The existential vacuum (Ger. existenzielles Vakuum) is a state of inner emptiness in which a person does not know what they want, because they see no meaning. It manifests itself above all as boredom and apathy.
Where it comes from
Frankl explained it by a twofold loss:
- humans have lost some of the instincts that tell an animal what it must do,
- and today they are also losing the traditions that told them what they should do.
As a result, people do what others do (conformism) or what others tell them to do (totalitarianism).
Masks of the vacuum
The vacuum rarely shows itself openly. It often hides behind:
- the pursuit of pleasure, money and power,
- workaholism,
- Sunday neurosis,
- the so-called mass neurotic triad: depression, aggression, addiction.
The vacuum is not an illness
The vacuum itself is not a neurosis - it is a human question about meaning, even a sign of maturity. It can, however, lead to noogenic neurosis.
Sources
V. E. Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning; The Will to Meaning.