The history of a concept

This chapter traces the history and significance of the concept of existential wellness while highlighting psychiatry’s long-standing neglect of existential concerns. It begins by examining psychiatry’s reliance on the medical model, which tends to pathologize suffering, reduce meaning-laden struggles to disorders, and prioritize pharmacological interventions over existential exploration. The discussion critiques the limitations of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), the dominance of psychopharmacology, and the marginalization of existential therapies. The chapter then outlines the intellectual and clinical history of existential wellness, from premodern spiritual and philosophical traditions through existential–phenomenological philosophy, logotherapy, and existential–humanistic psychotherapy to late-twentieth-century critiques and twenty-first-century integrations with well-being science and public health. Five recurring dimensions of existential wellness—meaning and purpose, freedom and responsibility, authenticity and integrity, relational belonging, and finitude and transcendence—are identified as central to the concept. Persistent critiques, including tensions between individualism and social constraint, the commodification of authenticity, and questions of evidence, are also addressed. Ultimately, existential wellness is presented as a transdisciplinary lens and enduring practice that embraces ambiguity, finitude, and responsibility while offering a richer vision of human flourishing.