Existential Discourse Analysis of Economic Instability Anxiety in Patients with Depression

Abstract

This study aimed to analyze the existential discourse of economic instability anxiety in patients with depression, focusing on the psychological and semantic dimensions of their lived experiences. A qualitative design using existential discourse analysis was employed. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 24 individuals diagnosed with depression residing in Tehran. Purposeful sampling was used, and interviews continued until theoretical saturation was reached. All interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using NVivo 12 software through thematic coding. The analysis yielded three main categories: “Lived Experience of Economic Anxiety,” “Disruption in Social and Interpersonal Relationships,” and “Existential Meaning of Economic Instability.” These categories encompassed 14 subthemes and over 70 open codes. Participants expressed their economic anxiety through themes of helplessness, meaninglessness, social withdrawal, shame, familial tension, and existential emptiness. Some individuals, however, demonstrated efforts to reconstruct personal meaning within the context of economic crisis. The findings revealed that economic anxiety in depressed patients is not limited to financial concerns but extends into existential, psychological, and social domains. Existential discourse analysis enables the exploration of hidden layers of meaning, identity, and suffering in times of economic instability and offers valuable insights for designing more responsive psychotherapeutic interventions and policy support.