"Neurosis is the way of avoiding non-being by avoiding being"

Paul Tillich's quote speaks with the suggestion that neurosis is a method of avoiding the existential dilemma of non-being. Neurosis is a form of mental illness that is defined by stress and anxiety, clinical depression, and also obsessive-compulsive actions. By staying clear of being, or taking part in life, an individual can stay clear of the fear of non-being, or the worry of fatality. This anxiety of fatality can be so overwhelming that it can lead to a person preventing life entirely. Neurosis can be viewed as a way of preventing the existential dilemma of non-being by avoiding being. It is a method of staying clear of the fear of death as well as the unidentified. By avoiding being, an individual can avoid the concern of non-being and also the existential crisis that includes it. Neurosis can be seen as a way of staying clear of the anxiety of death and also the unidentified, and also it can be a way of avoiding the existential crisis of non-being.