The Therapeutics of Extinction Anxiety: A Depth Psychological Approach

As a culture we are swimming in a psychic soup of apocalyptic stories, images and symbols of nuclear war, social injustice, anthropogenic climate change, and global pandemics. As a result, we are experiencing high levels of anxiety about the human future, which I am calling ‘extinction anxiety’. This anxiety is so strong and pervasive that mighty engines of cultural repression are at work to numb our feelings and prevent recognition of the object of our fear and our worst nightmare — the extinction of the human species. But if we are willing to turn toward this psychic soup, if we can learn how to ride the dark emotions that arise rather than turn away from them, then, I suggest, we will be given the seeds of a new revelation. I want to make the claim that apocalyptic imagery and extinction anxiety are promptings from the sentience of the earth herself, inviting human beings to walk through a threshold toward personal, cultural and planetary renewal. Jungian depth psychology offers a therapeutic frame of reference to understand how to navigate these rough waters with courage, resilience and grace.