In an age where therapy apps are just a click away and diagnoses are increasingly medicalised, the word “despair” is often lumped together with depression, anxiety, or burnout. But Søren Kierkegaard—19th-century Danish philosopher and Christian thinker—offers a radically different, and profoundly human, view of despair. For him, despair is not merely a mental health condition. It is a spiritual crisis. And in recognising this, we may find a deeper, more transformative path toward healing.
Despair as More Than a Diagnosis
Modern psychology tends to define despair in clinical terms: a severe form of hopelessness, a symptom of depression, or a reaction to trauma. Therapy seeks to reduce this despair, often through cognitive reframing, medication, or behavioural change. These tools are valuable—but they address despair as a problem of the mind.
Kierkegaard, however, believed despair is fundamentally a problem of the self. In his book The Sickness Unto Death, he argues that despair is not the absence of hope, but the disconnection from one’s true self—specifically, from the self as it was meant to exist in relation to God.
“Despair is the misrelation in the self… despair is not just a state of mind, it is the sickness of the spirit.”
In other words, despair arises when we try to define ourselves by external standards—success, image, productivity—rather than by our inward relationship to the divine.
Therapy vs. Spiritual Healing
Mental health professionals are increasingly aware that something deeper is at stake in our modern malaise. While therapy can help us cope with symptoms, it rarely asks the existential questions Kierkegaard posed: Who am I, really? What am I for?
Kierkegaard’s approach to despair doesn’t dismiss therapy—it goes beneath it. He invites us to confront not just our mental discomfort, but our spiritual estrangement. In his eyes, the path to healing lies not only in managing emotions, but in reconciling with our source—what he calls God.
This doesn’t require religious dogma. Kierkegaard speaks to anyone who senses that life must mean more than routine, that our pain might be pointing us toward a truth we’ve been avoiding.
The Courage to Face Ourselves
What makes Kierkegaard’s view so relevant in the therapeutic age is his insistence that despair, while painful, can also be a gift. It is a wake-up call—a sign that something within us is misaligned.
Many of us avoid despair by keeping busy, numbing ourselves, or chasing perfection. But Kierkegaard challenges us to do the opposite: to sit with our discomfort, to examine our hearts, and to ask whether we’re truly living in alignment with who we’re meant to be.
“The greatest hazard of all, losing one’s self, can occur very quietly in the world, as if it were nothing at all.”
True healing, he suggests, begins not when we silence the pain, but when we listen to what it’s telling us.
A Deeper Hope
In Kierkegaard’s eyes, despair is not the end. It is the beginning of a more authentic life. Unlike the kind of hope that simply masks pain, the hope he offers emerges from facing despair honestly—and discovering that we are more than what we’ve become.
This kind of hope is spiritual. It’s grounded not in self-esteem or affirmation, but in trust. Trust that we are not alone. That our brokenness can lead to transformation. That the self we are called to become is still waiting for us.
Final Thoughts
In a world that treats despair like a disorder to be managed, Kierkegaard dares to call it a sacred wound. Not something to suppress, but something to understand—deeply, courageously, and spiritually.
If you’re feeling lost or disconnected, perhaps what you’re facing isn’t failure or weakness. Perhaps it’s your soul calling you back to the truth of who you are.
Kierkegaard reminds us: healing begins when we face despair not just with medicine, but with meaning.