Boundaries and Compartmentalization for Existential Anxiety
How to find a healthy balance in a chaotic world.
Posted October 1, 2025 | Reviewed by Lybi Ma
I have heard many clients say that they are going through an “existential crisis.” I always respond to this statement in the same way: “You are thinking existentially, and that is not a crisis.” When we think existentially, we ponder profound and often unanswerable questions. Doing this is a healthy way to accept and embrace the uncertainties and complexities of life. Some common existential concerns include:
If we view these questions as unacceptable or verboten, we may see them as containing risk or danger. If, on the other hand, we view them as normal and commonly pondered, we feel less uncomfortable with them. This normalization of profound and difficult questions can provide us with a sense of peace in the midst of a world and a life that is full of unknowns. Because panic is often centered on control, an acceptance that we actually cannot control everything in our lives can bring comfort and healing. Psychologist Irvin Yalom argues that anxiety can be reduced to comfortable levels and used to increase our awareness and vitality. Think of it this way: If I accept, for instance, that thoughts about death are not inherently risky, my anxiety about them decreases, and my willingness to think about the topic intellectually and curiously increases.
Boundaries and Compartmentalization in a Complex World
Keeping ourselves psychologically safe means that we need to be mindful of just how much stimulus there is in our everyday lives. We are constantly inundated with external stimulus in the form of media, and it is a fine line between managing this constant stream and experiencing overwhelm and panic due to it. We tend to think of the concept of boundary-setting only in terms of personal relationships, but the need for boundaries extends beyond just interpersonal situations. If I watched a 24-hour news channel all day long, I might be bound to feel overwhelmed, vicariously traumatized, and panicky. It is vital to create healthy separation from these forms of constant information. We can do this by being aware of our level of exposure to the following:
News and Media Outlets: While watching the evening news, for 29 minutes, the programming is dedicated to unpleasant, traumatic , violent, and sad stories. The final minute of the broadcast is reserved for an uplifting story. This is the nature of the news cycle: It focuses on stories of tragedy and, in recent years, has grown to often include violent images and videos to accompany these stories. If we overexpose ourselves to these types of news stories, we risk causing ourselves anxiety and panic. We can become vicariously traumatized by viewing constant stories of disaster and tragedy.
Triggering content: From police “dashcam” videos to amateur disaster footage captured on cell phones, we are able to visually experience what is happening in the world in a once-impossible way. The problem with this accessibility is that it leaves us vulnerable to seeing images and unfolding events that we may not otherwise choose to view. Understanding what triggers us can help us make an informed decision regarding what we choose to view.
A clear distinction must be made between setting boundaries and being avoidant. Many of us believe that it is part of our social duty to know what is happening in our country and in the world. This means being able to control the intake of information rather than simply cease taking in information.
In addition to boundary setting, compartmentalizing—our ability to “put things on a shelf” to come back to a later and better time—is a skill for managing the influx of stimulus in a complex world. There is a violent conflict happening in the Gaza Strip—it is all over the news and social media . I know that, as a social worker and human being, it is important for me to understand what is happening in this part of the world, but I can only devote myself to this when I am reasonably able. Between client sessions, I happened to see an upsetting social media news post about this conflict and had to choose to put it on the shelf for later. I recognized that it was a newsworthy story, but also that I did not have the time to devote to it right at that moment. Compartmentalization helps us maintain balance and keeps us psychologically healthy.
We can always “shelve” things if we are too overwhelmed to attend to them in the moment. This extends far beyond just our relationship with the media. In terms of how we cope with panic, compartmentalization is a healthier option than avoidance or suppression. It allows us the opportunity to come back to something when we are in a more balanced state. Overwhelm can lead to panic; our ability to simplify things for ourselves and prioritize what we can reasonably deal with in the moment is vital. The “shelf” does not indicate that something is unimportant but, rather, that it requires a calmer time in which to be fully attended to.
In my book Overcoming Panic and Panic Attacks, I discuss the important ways that we can cope with feelings of existential anxiety that many are feeling in response to national and world events. This is an excerpt from the book.
Compartmentalization: A Window on the Defensive Self. October 2013. Social and Personality Psychology Compass. J.S. Thomas, et al. 04 https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12061
Yalom, Irvin D. Existential Psychotherapy. Basic Books, 1980.
Lane, Phil. Overcoming Panic and Panic Attacks. Sheldon Press, 2025.
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Phil Lane, MSW, LCSW, is a psychotherapist in private practice and the author of the book Understanding and Coping with Illness Anxiety.
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