Young men’s experiences of living with existential concerns: “living close to a bottomless darkness”

ABSTRACT

Introduction

Young men may struggle in life with challenges of various concerns about their identity and who they want to be in life. Many health issues arise from social norms and wider societal determinations and for today’s young men, following such norms poses a risk of losing oneself. An essential part of health are connected to the existential dimensions in life and concerns who you are, and how well you know and understand yourself. However; little is known about what it means for young men to live a life with existential concerns.

Purpose and method

The purpose of this phenomenological study, based on reflective lifeworld research (RLR), is to describe young men’s experiences of living with existential concerns for which they have sought support. Eight lifeworld interviews were conducted.

Results

The results essentially show that young men living with existential concerns describe their situations as living close to a bottomless darkness. This is further described according to four constituents: enduring everyday life, striving for a solution, hearing an inner self-critical voice, and wearing a hard shell.

Conclusion

We conclude that strengthening young men’s health processes requires healthcare professionals to create an atmosphere where young men feel safe talking about existential concerns without feeling exposed and vulnerable.

KEYWORDS:

• Existential concerns
• reflective lifeworld research
• phenomenology
• qualitative research
• young men
• young adults

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank all the young men who participated in the study, who so freely shared their experience of living with existential concerns and made this study feasible.

Additional note

The article is the authors’ original work, has not received prior publication and is not under consideration for publication elsewhere.

Authors’ contribution

All authors were equally involved in the study design; they all contributed substantially throughout the research process, critically revised the manuscript, and approved the final draft.

Disclosure statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest or funding to report for this study.

Ethical approval

The study was reviewed and approved by the Regional Ethical Review Board of Gothenburg, Sweden (Dnr: 483-16 and Dnr: T322-18), and it has also followed the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki (World Medical Association, 2013).

Permission note

All material in the manuscript is original content.

Notes

1. In this article, we refer to young men, and young adults in general, as those from 16 to 25 years of age. References to other ages are given in parentheses.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Maria Lundvall

Maria Lundvall is a PhD-student in Caring Science at Univeristy of Borås with an interest in existential issues in relation to caring, health and well-being, especially in the context of young adults. She is a registered nurse with a Postgraduate Diploma in Specialist Nursing in public health.

Ulrica Hörberg

Ulrica Hörberg is an Associate Professor in Caring Science at Linnaeus University, Sweden where she leads the research group Lifeworld led Health, Caring and Learning (HCL) and she is Director of Studies for the PhD programme in Caring Sciences. Further, she is a member of the advisory board of the Centre for Health, Humanities and Medicine at Linnaeus University. Her research explores psychiatric and forensic psychiatric caring, in addition to caring and learning in educational and health care contexts.

Lina Palmér

Lina Palmér is an associate professor in Caring Science at Univeristy of Borås, Sweden where she leads the research group Lifeworld Research Group and she is Director of Studies for programmes and courses in Caring Sciences and Sexual and Reproductive Health Care. Her research interests is directed towards existential issues in relation to caring, health and well-being, especially in the context of breastfeeding and childbearing.

Gunilla Carlsson

Gunilla Carlsson is professor in Caring Science at the University of Borås, Sweden were she is the Head of Department of caring science and she is the Director of Studies for the PhD programme in Caring Science. Her research is grounded in caring science with a theoretical foundation in lifeworld theory with a special interest in existential care issues. She is currently leading a research project aimed at developing knowledge that can support and strengthen the health processes of young adults living in an existence characterized by existential concerns.

Elisabeth Lindberg

Elisabeth Lindberg is an associate professor in Caring Science at Univeristy of Borås, Sweden. She is a registered nurse with a Postgraduate Diploma in Specialist Nursing in Intensive Care. Her research explores existential issues in relation to caring, health and well-being, and her research interest is also directed towards lifeworld led learning and reflection.