ASPECTS OF PROCESSING EXISTENTIAL EXPERIENCE AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH ANXIETY DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a real shock, forcing people to question the basic sense of security and face existential givens, such as finiteness of life, loneliness, freedom and meaning. The ongoing epidemic has sparked a wave of research on the mechanisms of effective stress coping in the situation of threat to life and safety. At the same time, more scientists are emphasizing the existential nature of anxiety caused by the pandemic, and the results of recent studies indicate a mediating role of existential anxiety between the symptoms of post-traumatic stress and post-traumatic growth. The purpose of this research is to study the aspects of processing existential experience and its connection with coping with anxiety during COVID-19 pandemic. The study analyzed written interviews of 108 subjects aged 25-45 years, held during the second wave of coronavirus in Moscow, for the presence of existential issues of death, loneliness, freedom and meaning. The types of processing existential experience were distinguished; an empirical analysis of the connection between the aspects of processing the existential experience and trait anxiety was carried out. Results showed that 90% of respondents are confronted with one or more existential given, which may indicate the presence of a situational existential crisis. A connection has been found between an emotional processing of existential experience together with the availability of personal resources and successful stress coping during the pandemic. The necessity of including fundamental existential issues in the process of providing psychological help during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as assistance to people, who have had traumatic experiences, has been argued.