Trauma and Kierkegaardian Earnestness

This paper will explore traumatized individuals' experiences of meaning.  A traumatized individual in a depressed state can have a fragmented experience of meaning that becomes tied to their mood: as their experience of trauma becomes acutely present, they lose touch with a felt sense of meaning.  This raises an important question: Is it possible for such a person to have a commitment to meaning that is independent of mood, that can sustain them throughout their various reactions to trauma? This paper will examine Soren Kierkegaard’s distinction between “mood” and “earnestness” in his discourse “At a Graveside” as one possible answer.  It will argue that earnestness transcends moods like those experienced by who suffer from traumatic pasts because (1) it is active and (2) it is rooted in the eternal. This implies that Kierkegaardian earnestness, understood with clinical sensitivity, might provide grounding for those who struggle with trauma.