[Meaning-Centered Psychotherapy in Psycho-Oncological Care]. / Sinnzentrierte Psychotherapie in der psychoonkologischen Versorgung.

Being diagnosed with cancer is commonly associated with psychological distress. Especially patients with advanced disease report a range of distinct symptoms that are referred to as existential distress. The conceptualization of existential distress is mainly characterized by the loss of a sense of meaning and purpose in life resulting from the confrontation with a life-threatening disease. Existential distress has a significant impact on health care outcomes and quality of life. It has been found to be associated with suicidal ideation, even in the absence of mental disorders such as depression. Meaning-centered psychotherapy offers effective interventions with regard to reducing existential distress in cancer patients.

The Experiences of Post-ICU COVID-19 Survivors: An Existential Perspective using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis.

COVID-19 has highlighted the vulnerability of intensive care unit (ICU) patients and the negative sequelae associated with ICU treatment. While the potentially traumatic impact of ICU is well documented, less is known about the ICU survivor's subjective experience and how it influences life post-discharge. Existential psychology addresses the universal concerns of existence, including death, isolation, and meaninglessness, and offers a holistic view of human experience beyond diagnostic categories. An existential psychological understanding of ICU COVID-19 survivorship may therefore provide a rich account of what it means to be among the worst affected by a global existential crisis. This study employed interpretive phenomenological analysis of qualitative interviews with 10 post-ICU COVID-19 survivors (aged 18-78). Interviews were structured on existential psychology's 'Four Worlds' model that explores the physical, social, personal, and spiritual dimensions of human experience. The essential meaning of ICU COVID-19 survival was conceptualised as 'Trying to Reconnect with a Changed Reality' and consisted of four themes. The first, Between Shifting Realities in ICU, described the liminal nature of ICU and the need to ground oneself. The second, What it Means to Care and Be Cared For, captured the emotive nature of personal interdependence and reciprocity. The third, The Self is Different, described survivors' struggle to reconcile old and new selves. The fourth, A New Relationship with Life, outlined how survivors' experiences shaped their new worldviews. Findings evidence the value of holistic, existentially informed psychological support for ICU survivors.

Construção e Evidências Psicométricas da Escala de Gratidão / Construction and Psychometric Evidence of the Gratitude Scale

Objetivamos construir e analisar as propriedades psicométricas de um instrumento para avaliar a gratidão em formato de julgamento situacional. Após a análise de juízes e estudo piloto, houve a exclusão de 6 itens dos 15 elaborados inicialmente. No estudo de busca de evidência de validade por meio da estrutura interna participaram 514 pessoas, sendo 56% do sexo femini-no, com idades entre 14 e 72 anos, que responderam à Escala de Gratidão, Escala de Afetos, Escala de Vitalidade e a Escala de Satisfação com a Vida. A análise fatorial exploratória indicou uma estrutura unidimensional composta por 9 itens. As mulheres apresentaram as maiores mé-dias quando comparadas aos homens, tanto no julgamento como na autoavaliação da gratidão. A gratidão apresentou correlação, em sentido positivo com magnitude fraca, apenas com a vi-talidade. Os dados indicaram evidências de validade com base no conteúdo do teste, consistên-cia interna e na relação com variáveis externas para a Escala de Gratidão. (AU)

We aimed to build and analyze the psychometric properties of an instrument to assess grati-tude in situational judgment format. After the analysis of judges’ and pilot study, 6 items out of the 15 elaborated were excluded. In the internal structure study 514 people participated, being 56% female, aged between 14 and 72 years old, who answered the Gratitude Scale, Af-fections Scale, Vitality Scale and Life Satisfaction Scale. The exploratory factor analysis indi-cated a one-dimensional structure composed of 9 items. Women had the highest averages when compared to men, both in judgment and in the self-assessment of gratitude. The grati-tude presented positively correlation with weak magnitude only with vitality, being positively explained by the gratitude. The data indicated evidence of validity based on the test content, on its internal consistency and in the relationship to external variables for the Gratitude Scale. (AU)

Effect of Group Logotherapy on Anxiety About Death and Existential Loneliness in Patients With Advanced Cancer: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

BACKGROUND: Although logotherapy has been shown to relieve other psychological symptoms of patients with cancer, no studies have specifically investigated the effect of logotherapy on anxiety about death and existential loneliness in these patients. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to determine the effect of group logotherapy on anxiety about death and existential loneliness in patients with advanced cancer. METHODS: Sixty-three patients who were in the advanced stage of cancer were recruited from 2 hospital oncology services and were randomly assigned to either experimental (n = 31) or control group (n = 32). The intervention group received 10 weekly 2-hour group logotherapy. Templer's Death Anxiety Scale and ELQ were completed pre- and posttreatment. RESULTS: A 2 × 2 mixed analysis of variance was used to determine the effect of the treatment on each of the dependent variables. The analyses revealed that patients in the logotherapy group reported a significant decrease in anxiety about death and existential loneliness after (vs before) the treatment. No significant decreases were observed in the waitlist control group. CONCLUSIONS: These results have implications for treating death anxiety and feelings of existential loneliness among patients with advanced cancer. They suggest that group logotherapy is highly effective in reducing these existential concerns. Limitations and avenues for future research are discussed. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: The study emphasizes that group logotherapy can be considered in oncology care programs by healthcare professionals and in educational curriculums and is suggested for use among caregivers and patients with advanced cancer.

Health professionals' reflections on existential concerns among people with obesity.

PURPOSE: This study aimed to describe health professionals' reflections on existential concerns among people with obesity when attempting to support them in their lifestyle change processes. For many of those affected by obesity, the condition becomes lifelong and causes existential concerns. The health professionals' reflections on existential concerns among people with obesity may influence central aspects of their practice and their patients' well-being. METHODS: Eighteen health professionals with relevant health education working in three different treatment programmes for people with obesity were recruited for three focus group interviews. The interviews were analysed and interpreted using a model for interpretation of meaning at three levels with a phenomenological-hermeneutical approach. FINDINGS: The analysis identified three themes. The health professionals reflected on existential concerns among people with obesity in terms of patients' repressed emotional difficulties and lack of self-respect. In addition, they reflected on their own experiences of powerlessness when presented with people with obesity's existential concerns. CONCLUSION: The present study provides valuable insights into reflections on existential concerns among people with obesity, based on health professionals' descriptions. We believe that these insights add to the existing literature and have consequences for how people with obesity are met and cared for.

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Eco-Apocalypse: An Existential Approach to Accepting Eco-Anxiety.

Climate crisis presents a near-term existential threat to the human species, one that society has neither the physical nor psychological infrastructure to manage. Eco-anxiety increases as awareness about climate crisis spreads. Despite an urgent need for resources on how to help people cope with the psychological ramifications of climate crisis, there is little literature that both addresses people's apocalyptic fears and takes the scientific bases of those fears seriously. In this article, I synthesize research on existential psychology, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, grief, and end-of-life care to present an original perspective on how people, individually and collectively, can become psychologically resilient to climate crisis. First, I establish that death anxiety underlies eco-anxiety. Second, I demonstrate that preparing psychologically for eco-apocalypse requires people to cultivate death acceptance. Finally, I illustrate how commitment to palliative values can enable people to live rich and meaningful lives despite their most likely imminent end.

Living With Cardiovascular Disease: Existential Meaning of Lifestyle Change.

This study aims at exploring the perspectives of patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD) on the existential meaning of lifestyle change as an evidence base for spiritual care by nurses and other health professionals. This study has been carried out within the paradigm of phenomenological caring sciences. The sample of 18 participants was purposively selected. Data consisted of in-depth interviews among adults with an episode of CVD. Data analysis of transcribed audio recordings was done using the method of Reflective Lifeworld Approach. For patients with CVD, changing one's lifestyle is an experience of transition in self-image. This transition has a twofold dynamic. On the one hand, it entails alternating phases in what is meaningful for the patient: letting go (loss of the normal, of health, of bodily functions) and holding on (desire to be healthy and to be normal). On the other hand, through the vulnerability and loneliness patients often experience, patients report a need to be encouraged by and connected to others/the Other. Making brave choices and connecting to the patients' spiritual resources of inner strength are crucial for successful lifestyle changes and meaningful transition to a new lifestyle. Lifestyle change is not only a physical and psychological process for the patient with CVD but also an existential transition that involves fundamental views and values of being human. It is an experience that is in part socially influenced, that is, by encouragement from meaningful others. For the health care worker, knowledge of this experience may help provide spiritual care after CVD.

Existential Positive Psychology (EPP): A Positive Tool for Healing Existential Anxieties in South Africa during, and after, the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Globally, humanity is in the grip of the COVID-19 pandemic; thus, we question our individual, and collective, behaviours. Long periods of lockdown and ever-escalating death rates have found people asking questions such as "What is the point of carrying on?" This is exacerbated by the world's burgeoning ecological crisis. Humanity is beginning to wonder if it belongs on the planet when its footprint has caused such rampant destruction to forests, oceans, the animal kingdom, and other ecological entities. Existential positive psychology (EPP) seeks to uncover truths about humankind's existence, survival, and, thus, meaning in life. We, as people, need to make sense of our reason for being as we struggle with our anxieties and seek to become authentic. This discussion paper contends that EPP can help humanity find the courage to challenge, and heal, its existential anxieties, namely, death, isolation, freedom, and meaningless, in order to find individual and group identities, as well as overall mental wellness (or happiness), specifically in a South African context, during the COVID-19 pandemic. The writings of Wong, who works within the framework of EPP, and those of Frankl, a holocaust survivor, whose work falls within the scope of humanistic and existential psychology and Asante's Afrocentrism, which is a philosophical framework grounded on the African continent, are used to support this argument.

Psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy to treat psychiatric and existential distress in life-threatening medical illnesses and palliative care.

Psychiatric and existential distress commonly occur in advanced cancer and other serious, life-threatening or end-of-life medical illnesses and are associated with poor medical and psychiatric outcomes. Currently available treatment modalities in this patient population, including medication and psychotherapy, are limited in effectiveness, especially regarding existential distress. The lack of effective psycho-spiritual interventions is a critical shortcoming in palliative care and represents a high unmet need in medicine. In this commentary, we review the rationale of researching and developing psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy as a novel pharmacologic-psychotherapeutic intervention to treat psychiatric and existential distress in life-threatening medical conditions and palliative care. This paper reviews efficacy data from first and second waves of psychedelic research, and future directions for research and implementation science. More rigorous research, especially funded by governments, is needed to assess effectiveness and mechanisms of action of psychedelic therapies to treat psychiatric and existential distress in life-threatening medical illnesses and palliative care. If psychedelic-assisted treatments were made available as approved and prescribable medications in people with serious medical illnesses, it could be a significant development that opens up a pathway for clinical dissemination and public health impact internationally.

"My life became more meaningful": confronting one's own end of life and its effects on well-being-a qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: The perception of being closer to death can be experienced due to old age or life-limiting diseases, and can pose profound existential challenges. Actively confronting death-related issues and existential questions may increase psychosocial comfort and stimulate personal growth, whereas dysfunctional coping may lead to existential distress. To date, research on individual and (semi-)professional approaches to confronting the own end of life and the effects on one's well-being remain scarce. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore individual strategies and wishes in order to derive ideas for appropriate support concepts. METHODS: Twenty semi-structured interviews were conducted with people over the age of 80 (n = 11) and with a life-limiting disease (n = 10). The interviews were transcribed verbatim and independently coded by two researchers according to Braun and Clarke's thematic analysis approach. RESULTS: While the use of (semi-)professional approaches (e.g., therapeutic support) to confronting existential questions in the shape of one's impending death was rare, individual coping strategies did have a positive impact on psychosocial comfort. There were hardly any significant differences between the participants aged 80 and over and those with a life-limiting disease in terms of individual coping strategies or how they approached the ends of their lives. Both groups reported that theoretical education, preparing for the ends of their lives (e.g., funerals), talking about death-related topics, reflecting on death-related topics, and contemplating death in a spiritual sense had positive effects on their assurance, self-determination and relief. The necessity of confrontation and a desire for low-threshold, accessible and flexible services to meet their existential and spiritual needs were highlighted. CONCLUSIONS: There is both a desire and a need for the addressing of existential questions. Outside of private contexts, however, the participants possessed little awareness of support services that focused on confronting end-of-life issues, and rarely used such services. Efforts to raise awareness for psychosocial and spiritual needs should be implemented within the care system, together with low-threshold support concepts, in order to increase psychosocial well-being. More research evaluating individual approaches to confronting the own end of life are needed to better understand this determinant of well-being and its mechanisms of action. TRIAL REGISTRATION: www.germanctr.de , DRKS-ID: DRKS00020577 .

Existential Insights in Cancer: Meaning in Life Adaptability.

Previous research demonstrated that the cancer diagnosis and treatment evoke existential concerns, especially ones related to meaning in life and meaning-making processes. The cancer experience is a vital challenge that often entails changes in what is personally important in life. Firstly, this paper collects evidence supporting that meaning adaptability, the way people adapt their meaning in life to the cancer experience, is a central element in the mental health of cancer patients. Various theories that could account for this meaning adaptability are introduced. Secondly, the paper provides a compilation of studies showing how people change what is significant in their lives within the course of cancer. Finally, the paper presents the available psychological therapies directed to facilitate meaning adaptability in this population. Meaning-centered interventions have been demonstrated to be effective in alleviating the suffering related to the cancer experience and promoting personal growth.

Existential Distress in Cancer Patients: A Concept Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Existential distress is a widely used concept used in describing cancer patients. However, this concept is vague and has failed to achieve a consensus. The lack of a recognized conceptual framework could hinder future research on existential distress. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to clarify and analyze the concept of existential distress in cancer patients. METHODS: The Walker and Avant concept analysis approach was applied. RESULTS: For cancer patients, the concept of existential distress included 5 core attributes: (a) lack of meaning; (b) loss of autonomy; (c) loss of dignity; (d) hopelessness; and (e) death anxiety. Existential distress is a key factor causing poor quality of life, a poor emotional state, demoralization, and even suicide. It is often underpinned by uncontrolled physical pain, serious psychological morbidity, and a perceived sense of being a burden on others. CONCLUSION: The concept analysis provides a theoretical framework for healthcare providers to better understand existential distress in cancer patients, to improve patient well-being. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: On the basis of the antecedents of this concept, cancer patients experiencing uncontrolled physical pain, severe psychological morbidity, and a perceived sense of being a burden on others are at a high risk of existential distress. These factors should be eliminated in a timely manner to prevent cancer patients from being caught in a state of existential distress. The 5 defining attributes and empirical referents of this concept could be used to develop tools to screen for existential distress in cancer patients and distinguish it from similar concepts.

A Daseinsanalyse de Medard Boss nos periódicos científicos brasileiros / Medard Boss’ Daseinsanalysis in Brazilian scientific journals

Medard Boss é considerado fundador da Daseinsanalyse. Conquanto a relevância de seu legado para a psicologia, sua obra é pouco conhecida na comunidade científica brasileira. Esta pesquisa, no intento de descobrir o que e como se tem referenciado o daseinsanalista, orienta-se por uma revisão integrativa da literatura de artigos científicos, indexados em portais abertos e gratuitos, que citem Medard Boss. Foram eleitas palavras-chave, então aplicadas em três bancos de dados (SciELO, PePSICe Lilacs). Após seleção por critérios de exclusão, chegou-se a um Nfinal de 37 publicações. Dos resultados, percebe-se que Boss é pouco referenciado pelos artigos brasileiros. Quando lembrado, a maior parte das menções é breve. Uma minoria de autores concentra a maior parte das publicações. Apenas dois livros de Boss estão traduzidos para o português. Vinte e sete porcento dos artigos que remetem ao daseinsanalista não usam nenhuma referência de sua obra.

Medard Boss is the founder of Daseinsanalyse. Despite the relevance of his legacy to psychology, his theory is little known by the Brazilian scientific psychological community. This research, with the aim of understanding how and what aspects of the daseinsanalist is referenced, is oriented by an integrative review of the literature of scientific articles indexed on open and free portals that cite Medard Boss. Keywords were chosen, which were applied in three databases (SciELO, PePSICand Lilacs). After selection by exclusion criteria, it has provided a final N of 37 publications. In the results, it is concluded that Medard Boss is little referenced by Brazilian articles. When he is remembered, most of the mentions are brief.A minority of authors concentrate most publications. Only three of Boss’ books are translated to Portuguese, while 27% of the articles that refer to the daseinsanalist do not use any reference of his work.

Exploring the Use of Psilocybin Therapy for Existential Distress: A Qualitative Study of Palliative Care Provider Perceptions.

There is a growing body of research suggesting that palliative care patients coping with existential distress may benefit from psilocybin. However, there is a large gap regarding the perceptions of palliative care providers who may provide education, counseling services, recommendations, and/or prescriptions for psilocybin if it is decriminalized, commercialized, and/or federally rescheduled and legalized. The aim of this study was to explore the experiences and perceptions of interdisciplinary palliative care providers regarding existential distress and the use of psilocybin therapy. Five (n = 5) health care providers from a hospital-based palliative care team completed a semi-structured interview related to their experiences supporting patients with existential distress and their beliefs and attitudes related to psilocybin as a possible treatment modality. A qualitative descriptive approach was used to identify key themes which included: 1) multiple barriers to addressing existential distress at the cultural, institutional/organizational, relational, and individual levels, 2) the duality and power of presence, 3) suffering as an intrinsically subjective phenomenon, and 4) uncertainty about the risks and benefits of psilocybin. To inform an inclusive, safe, and holistic approach, more research is needed regarding the possible integration of psilocybin therapy within palliative care for the treatment of existential distress.

Reflecting on meaning in an existential-reorientation group psychotherapy approach for cancer patients: A qualitative thematic analysis.

OBJECTIVE: The objectives of this study were to evaluate, in the Italian cultural context, breast cancer patients' main meaning themes related to the experience of the disease, on the one side, and to be part of an existentially oriented group intervention, on the other. METHOD: A short reorientation-existential (RET) group intervention, structured by using some tools and background from cognitive analytic therapy (CAT) and based on the meaning-centered psychotherapy (MCP) existential framework, was delivered to 29 breast cancer patients. The sessions were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim, with the narratives from reflective exercises (meaning of the journey cancer, meaning of the journey of intervention) uploaded to computer software NVivo 11. Analysis of the transcripts emerged from reflective exercises on the personal meaning of cancer and the letters of meaning (goodbye letter) written by the patients to express the meaning of their experience in the group was conducted through the interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) framework. RESULTS: Four superordinate themes were identified in the exercise meaning of the experience of cancer, namely "sense of stigma and loneliness (the foreigner)," "guilt (unjust guilt and anticipatory guilt)," "reconsidering one's own life and nostalgia," and "rebirth (a new life, life after life)." Three superordinate themes were found in the meaning of the group experience in the letters, namely "togetherness and gratitude," "legacy," and "acceptance." SIGNIFICANCE OF RESULTS: The study confirmed that a short group intervention, based on the existentially oriented framework and delivered in a public clinical healthcare setting, was enriched by focusing on the personal meaning of cancer. Some themes, such as loneliness, nostalgia, and rebirth, emerged during reflection giving, in written letters to participants, the sense of the group therapeutic experience.

Gênero como modalidade existencial / Gender as existential modality / Género como modalidad existencial

As discussões de gênero são ainda fundamentais para as lutas (trans)feministas e possuem um campo aberto a novas reflexões que contribuam no tema. Essa questão é cara à fenomenologia desde Simone de Beauvoir até Judith Butler e outras fenomenólogas feministas contemporâneas. Considerando as contribuições já desveladas por essas autoras, este trabalho possui o objetivo de repensar a conceituação de gênero por meio do conceito de modalidade existencial encontrado em Merleau-Ponty e Heidegger em uma revisão teórica assistemática. O conceito de modalidade existencial implica em possibilidades, como fundamental na estrutura ontológica do ser. Possibilidade tem aqui características existenciais e de abertura que descrevem modos de ser, de se vincular, significar e tornar possível ser e sentido. O gênero como modalidade existencial desvela um espectro de potências que se realiza e se institui na existência corpórea e situada do ser. Este trabalho possibilita um diálogo com as reflexões já realizadas pelas autoras feministas e a abertura para o aprofundamento das discussões sobre gênero.

Gender discussions are still fundamental to (trans)feminist struggles and have an open field to new reflections that contribute to the topic. This issue is important to phenomenology from Simone de Beauvoir to Judith Butler and other contemporary feminist phenomenologists. Considering the contributions already unveiled by these authors, this paper aims to rethink the conceptualization of gender through the concept of existential modality found in Merleau-Ponty and Heidegger in a non-systematic theoretical review. The concept of existential modality implies possibilities as fundamental in the ontological structure of being. Here, possibility has existential and open characteristics that describe ways of being, of linking, meaning and make possible being and meaning. Gender as an existential modality reveals a spectrum of potencies that is realized and established in the corporeal and situated existence of being. This work allows a dialogue with the reflections already made by the feminist authors and the opening to deepen the discussions about gender.

Las discusiones de género siguen siendo fundamentales para las luchas (trans)feministas y tienen un campo abierto a nuevas reflexiones que contribuyen al tema. Este tema es apreciado por la fenomenología desde Simone de Beauvoir hasta Judith Butler y otras fenomenólogas feministas contemporáneas. Teniendo en cuenta las contribuciones ya presentadas por estas autoras, este artículo tiene como objetivo repensar la conceptualización del género a través del concepto de modalidad existencial que se encuentra en Merleau-Ponty y Heidegger en una revisión teórica no sistemática. El concepto de modalidad existencial implica posibilidades como fundamentales en la estructura ontológica del ser. La posibilidad aquí tiene características existenciales y abiertas que describen formas de ser, de vinculación, significado y hacer posible ser y sentido. El género como modalidad existencial revela un espectro de potencias que se realiza y establece en la existencia corporal y situada del ser. Este trabajo permite un diálogo con las reflexiones ya hechas por las autoras feministas y la apertura para profundizar las discusiones sobre género.

Does Spiritual Intelligence (SI) Exist? A Theoretical Investigation of a Tool Useful for Finding the Meaning of Life.

For years, spirituality and finding the meaning of life have been considered essential phenomena in the context of human existence. Zohar introduced the term spiritual intelligence (SI) in 1997, and since that time researchers have been seeking to clarify the concept. Emmons (The psychology of ultimate concerns. Guilford Press, New York, 1999) suggested that SI serves as a potentially significant construct to expand our understanding of the psychological determinants of human functioning. In recent years, several efforts to conceptualize and measure this construct have joined the body of related literature, of which King (Brighter paths to wellbeing: an integrative model of human intelligence and health. Trent University Centre for Health Studies Showcase, pp 12-13, 2008) serves as one notable example. Following, evaluating, and summarizing the theoretical debate regarding the validity of a concept, as it is presented in the literature, has long been understood as a helpful way of extending scholarly dialogue. In this project, I review psychological literature relevant to the debate on the validity of SI as a psychological construct. The literature offers many examples that demonstrate a relation between SI and other phenomena that are important for human functioning-well-being in this. Results of the analysis support theoretical considerations for viewing SI as facilitating the ability to search for the meaning of life and provide directions for future study.

How Giving Birth Makes Sense: A Questionnaire Study on Existential Meaning-Making Among Mothers Giving Birth Preterm or at Term.

BACKGROUND: Women's reflections on existential meaning-making in relation to giving birth may seem indistinct in maternity services and have not been thoroughly explored in secular contexts. However, research suggests that childbirth accentuates spiritual and existential considerations and needs even in secular contexts highlighting the importance of care for such needs in maternity care practices. The objectives of this study were two-fold: Firstly, to explore how first-time mothers, living in a secular context, experience their first birth in relation to existential meaning-making. Secondly, to describe the relationship between existential meaning-making reflections and gestational week at birth. METHODS: A nationwide cross-sectional study in Denmark based on the questionnaire "Faith, existence and motherhood" was conducted in 2011. Eight core items related to birth experience informed this study. The cohort was sampled from the Danish Medical Birth Registry and consisted of 913 mothers having given birth 6-18 months previously. Twenty-eight per cent had given birth preterm (PT) and 72% had given birth at full-term (FT). A total of 517 mothers responded. RESULTS: In relation to the birth of their first child, both FT and PT mothers answered, that they had existential meaning-making reflections. The consent to the 8 items ranged from 17 to 73% among FT mothers and from 19 to 58% among PT mothers. Mothers who gave birth preterm mainly identified the negative aspects of birth, whereas mothers, who gave birth at full-term, to a higher degree identified positive aspects. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest that not only traumatic birth events accentuate existential reflections, but that even normal childbirth to most mothers is an existential event. However, the quality of existential reflections differs when comparing normal and traumatic birth. The study points towards change in education and organization of maternity care to better care for existential needs and reflections specific to every new mother and birthing woman.

El sentido de vida, una condición existencial / The meaning of life, an existential condition

El ser humano siempre ha estado en la constante búsqueda de sentido y preguntándose por su existencia. El hombre moderno además de encontrase en esa búsqueda, también se halla permeado por la angustia constante, está sometido a la cosificación de sí mismo, la hipeconectividad, el consumismo, la incertidumbre y la inmediatez, lo cual lo conduce de manera casi inminente al aburrimiento y el tedio, es decir, a la frustración existencial, llevándolo a enfrentarse con sus pseudosatisfactores y dejándolo de cara ante el vacío de su propia existencia y el cuestionamiento: ¿para qué estoy en el mundo?

Human beings have been in a constant search for meaning and wondering about its existence. The modern man, in addition to finding himself in this search, is also permeated by constant anguish, is subjected to the objectification of himself, hyper-connectivity, consumerism, uncertainty and immediacy, which leads him almost imminently to boredom, which is existential frustration, leading him to face his pseudo-satisfiers and leaving him face to face with the emptiness of his own existence and the question: what am I in the world for?