An Existential Approach to the COVID-19 Pandemic

Year 2023, , 87 - 92, 31.03.2023

Simay Ezgi Budak , Yeter Sinem Üzar Özçetin

https://doi.org/10.31125/hunhemsire.1274816

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has seriously affected individuals worldwide, both physically and psychosocially. The fact that COVID-19 is an unpredictable disease, threatening the health and safety of individuals, and the implementation of extraordinary procedures such as masks and quarantine precautions have caused individuals to experience uncertainty, limit their freedom, and think about death in this process. Individuals perceived the COVID-19 pandemic, which creates an unknown and deadly danger, as a threat to existence, and this has led to the emergence of existential concerns. As a result, individuals began to think more deeply about death and the meaning of life. Existential concerns associated with the pandemic process have affected individuals psychosocially to a significant extent and have caused problems such as psychological distress. Therefore, understanding the existential concerns caused by COVID-19 is crucial in determining and implementing psychosocial interventions to address these concerns. This review aims to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic within the framework of existential theory and to review the search for meaning in life, existential concerns, and the methods used to manage these concerns, which emerged during the pandemic process.

Keywords

COVID-19, death, existentialism, life

COVID-19 Pandemisine Varoluşçu Bir Yaklaşım

Abstract

COVID-19 pandemisi, tüm dünyada bireyleri hem fiziksel hem de psikososyal açıdan ciddi bir şekilde etkilemiştir. COVID-19’un öngörülemeyen bir hastalık olması, bireylerin sağlık ve güvenliklerini tehlikeye atması, maske ve karantina önlemleri gibi olağandışı prosedürlerin uygulanması bireylerin bu süreçte belirsizlik yaşamalarına, özgürlüklerinin kısıtlanmasına ve ölüm üzerine düşünmelerine sebep olmuştur. Bireyler, bilinmeyen ve ölümcül bir tehlike yaratan COVID-19 pandemisini varoluşa karşı bir tehdit olarak algılamış ve bu durum varoluşsal kaygıların ortaya çıkmasına yol açmıştır. Bunun sonucunda da bireyler ölüm ve yaşamın anlamı üzerine daha derin düşünmeye başlamışlardır. Pandemi süreciyle ilişkili varoluşsal kaygılar bireyleri psikososyal açıdan önemli bir ölçüde etkilemiş ve psikolojik distres gibi sorunlara neden olmuştur. Bu nedenle COVID-19’un ortaya çıkardığı varoluşsal kaygıların anlaşılması, bu kaygılara yönelik yapılacak psikososyal girişimlerin belirlenmesinde ve uygulanmasında kritik bir yere sahiptir. Bu derlemede, COVID-19 pandemisinin varoluşçu kuram çerçevesinde ele alınması ve bu doğrultuda pandemi sürecinde ortaya çıkan yaşamda anlam arayışının, varoluşsal kaygıların ve bu kaygıların yönetilmesinde kullanılan yöntemlerin gözden geçirilmesi amaçlanmıştır.

Keywords

COVID-19, ölüm, varoluşçuluk, yaşam

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