O sofrimento humano na contemporaneidade : uma análise fenomenológico-existencial do mal-estar contemporâneo

Abstract

This work develops a phenomenological-existential analysis of human suffering in contemporary society. Based on the idea of a “Society of fatigue,” the study explores how excess positivity, self-exploitation, and the pressure for constant performance contribute to states of exhaustion, depression, and existential emptiness. Immersed in a culture of hyperconsumption, overexposure, and virtual connections, the individual becomes increasingly distant from their inner self, loses meaning in life, and experiences alienation from both self and others. The medicalization of suffering and the pursuit of immediate pleasures emerge as strategies of avoidance that deepen, rather than relieve, existential malaise. In light of this, the work proposes two complementary paths of confrontation: a social path, focused on creating symbolic spaces for closure, connection, and belonging; and an existential path, centered on returning to interiority, and cultivating authenticity and intersubjectivity. The final reflection highlights the urgency of reconnecting with one's own being, rescuing the other as a constitutive dimension of existence, and restoring a meaningful life within a society that often sustains the subject in a state of empty performance.