Crisis of Meaning and Mental Health

John Miltimore from Intellectual Takeout

It has been more than a decade since Pope John Paul II observed that “[o]ne of the most significant aspects of our current situation . . . is the ‘crisis of meaning.’” Some mental health professionals have linked this crisis to the surge of mental illness in our society.

Health professionals say it’s quite common to cope with feelings of meaningless like the people in Rafferty’s song—late nights, booze, one-night stands. (And, of course, there are additional ways to cope or distract ourselves that are more common to modern man: texting, workaholism, Twitter, internet porn, day-trading, etc.)

The point of the song gets at what I believe is an important truth: our lives often turn into sad patterns that are difficult to escape. This is especially true, I think, if people lack clear purpose and meaning in their lives.