Can Philosophy Harm Your Mental Health?

The psychology of philosophy is a relatively new field. It refers to the relationship between psychological traits and philosophical beliefs. This field garnered significant attention recently with the publication of a new study from the psychologist David B. Yaden and the philosopher Derek E. Anderson.  Published in the journal Philosophical Psychology, this study asked 314…

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Psychedelics as Catalysts for Existential Joy

In many discussions around psychedelics, there can be a tendency to focus on how these compounds alleviate various ills, rather than on what they can positively add to people’s lives. This speaks to a more general theme in the psychological field, where there is a preference for trying to resolve the negative and maladaptive aspects…

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Addiction as an Existential Issue

The Austrian psychiatrist Viktor Frankl argued that many people in the general public are experiencing what he called an ‘existential vacuum’: the belief that life is without meaning. He furthermore believed that this sense of a lack of meaning was the root of many of society’s ills, including the problem of drug addiction. Many kinds…

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Overwhelmed by the Human Condition: On Existential Depression and Existential Anxiety

The symptoms of depression and anxiety can have many causes, including genetics, personality, childhood experiences, environment, and circumstance. Moreover, multiple contributing factors may be present in an individual’s life, increasing the risk of a depressive episode or chronic depression much more than one factor alone. My interest in the link between philosophy and mental health,…

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