Depression is something that I and many others have struggled with. There have been many proven reasons why people have depression. Some of them being stressful events, drugs, genetics, illness, ect. However, one reason that I don’t feel like gets talked about enough is mindset. According to the National Library of Medicine, in the article “Effect of positive thinking training on stress, anxiety, depression, and quality of life among hemodialysis patients: A randomized controlled clinical trial,” by Wolters Kluwer in 2021, having more positive emotions can lead to a reduce in depression. For as long as I can remember, I’ve had the belief that there is no meaning of life. When discussing this with other people, I will always get the response of “well that's sad, no wonder you are unhappy,” or something along those lines. I believe however, that just because life has no meaning, doesn’t mean that I shouldn’t put effort into the things I do. It’s okay that life is meaningless. Believing there is no meaning gives me the freedom to do whatever I want, because in the grand scheme of things, it will not matter. There are many other beliefs about life and how to live it, but I think many of them are missing something important. The meaning of life is a very complex topic which should be further explored.

The first thing that should be talked about when discussing life's meaning is the phrasing of the question itself. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy has an entry by Thaddeus Metz in 2021, that talks about this same topic. He discusses the distinction between the meaning “of” life vs. the meaning “in” life. The question “what is the meaning of life?” points toward the question of “what is the human species meaning as a whole?” Whereas the question of “what is the meaning in life?” asks “What is the meaning of living life as an individual?” According to Stanford, most philosophers focus on the question of the meaning in life. The meaning in life makes it possible for the assumption of some points in life are more meaningful than others, and even that some people are less meaningful than others true. With this being said, the question of focus is “what is the meaning in life?”

Nihilism is the term for the belief that life has no meaning. More specifically, nihilism is “the rejection of all religious and moral principles,” according to Oxford Languages. The father of this philosophy was a late 1800s German philosopher named Friedrich Nietzsche. Nietzsche was an extreme pessimist who is famous for his ideas that “God is dead” and life has no meaning. As stated by Bernd Magnus, a writer for Britannica in 2022, in an article called “Friedrich Nietzsche,” Nietzsche thought of his writing as his own struggle with nihilism. He had depression for the second half of his life, most likely because of his thought process and beliefs. The idea of nihilism has been portrayed as a negative idea even from its creation. This is the issue I have with this philosophy. Believing that there is no inherent meaning in life doesn’t have to be a depressing thought. Treating life like there is no meaning to what is being done can lead to a very free and enjoyable life. People often try to prove themselves better than others or they try to live a life with more meaning. By rejecting the idea that life has meaning to it, breaking out of the loop of trying to be better or more successful is far easier. Along with nihilism, there are many other beliefs surrounding the meaning in life.

Another topic I believe is important while talking about life is Supernaturalism and religion. Supernaturalism is the idea that a god or a soul would confer meaning on a life. Simply, this belief is stating that whatever religion a person follows is the thing that adds meaning to their life. There are two branches, extreme supernaturalism and moderate supernaturalism. The former states that “If neither God nor a soul exists, then, by this view, everyone’s life is meaningless.” The latter states that “If neither God nor a soul exists, then, by this view, everyone’s life could have some meaning, or even be meaningful, but no one’s life could exhibit the most desirable meaning,” both of these explanations are quoted from the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Obviously, religion is an important topic to talk about when talking about meaning in life, however stated by the two branches of supernaturalism, if a god or the soul does not exist, then life is meaningless or is close to it. I don’t want to go too deep into the controversial topic of religion, however I will say that in my opinion the probability of an all-powerful being existing is very low compared to one not existing. If a god proved itself to be true, I would believe that life has meaning, however until then, there is no god, and there is no meaning in life.

There was a study done by Neal Krause concerning the link between mortality and believing there is a meaning in life. There were three main findings to his research, however the one I would like to focus on is when an older person believes they have a meaning or purpose to their life, they tend to live longer than those who believe they do not. This study summary suggests that not only does having a meaning in life slightly help physical and mental health, but it also points out that people who attend frequent religious services seem to live longer. Although the results of the study show positive results, it also shows that other factors like sex, age, and self-rated health are all much bigger factors in mortality. Therefore, it can be deduced from these results that a more positive mindset can have an effect on life and overall health. I believe however, that the people who reported they do not believe they have a purpose or meaning in life, thought that having no meaning was a solely negative thing. If having no meaning in life is viewed as a good thing, I believe that a similar experiment would give similar results. It is not about believing in meaning, it is about a positive mindset.

Life is like a rollercoaster, there is always going to be ups and downs. The ethical theory of hedonism however, believes that life should only be going up. The University of Tennessee at Martin’s “Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' has an entry by Dan Weijers about hedonism. They define it as “all and only pleasure is intrinsically valuable and all and only pain is intrinsically disvaluable.” This definition basically describes a hedonist as a person who believes that seeking pleasure is the most important part of life, and that no person should do anything that won't bring them immediate happiness. Obviously, living life entirely doing things to bring happiness solely in the moment without any regard of the consequences or future is not a good idea for a multitude of reasons, to keep some momentary happiness in mind. In addition, to live life to the fullest, both positive and negative experiences need to be a part of it. The best way to feel contentment is having pain along with the pleasure. Without the pain in life, the satisfaction would become non-stop and would begin to feel dull.

The meaning of life can be a difficult topic to discuss for people for many reasons. Not only can it be an emotionally hard discussion, but it is also a very complex subject. However, going deeper into different views and beliefs can make it much easier. Understanding things like nihilism, supernaturalism, and hedonism can bring important insight to different points of the question. An important thing to remember is even if someone believes that there is no meaning in life, having a positive attitude and outlook on things is very important. Living life like there is no overarching meaning can help improve happiness and health, because it can be understood that there is no point in anything so why not do things that are enjoyable. So next time the depression starts to worsen, remember that there is no meaning to life.