Due to its slow build nature, existential anxiety is not considered a severe mental health problem if found early. Song said there are still many debates on the formal definition of existential anxiety in the medical sphere and that one of the ideas put forth suggests that this kind of anxiety is natural.
"Why am I here? What is my purpose in life? Who am I supposed to be? These types of questions are believed to cause a normal amount of anxiety," Song said.
He said it is also somewhat related to the depth of one's thoughts, but if it impairs one's ability to function or begins to cause emotional or physical pain, then it is necessary for people to receive medical treatment.
Social reasons
Xu said "empty heart disease" has its root in society and changing social norms.
"People's mental health problems are closely related to the society's development," he said.
According to Xu, the erosion of the society's value system means that some people have cultivated wrong values and can easily be led down the wrong life path.
He said nowadays many young people have thrown away noble values in exchange for extreme egoism, which is a sharply rising trend.
"Nowadays, people seem to think it's silly to 'fight for the country and contribute to society.' Even the age-old slogan of 'study well and get an all-round development' is empty for them," Xu told china.com.cn.
"Our society's common value is the ability to make money and get as much material wealth as possible, which has driven many people to the edge of madness."
According to the official website of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, in the 1980s and 1990s, fewer than two out of every 100 people had a mental disorder. The morbidity for anxiety during the same period was about one percent, but the rate jumped to 13 percent in 2016, higher than the global average of 11 percent.
The increase in the number of cases is in line with China's economic development and changes in how people value and perceive their lives, Song said.
He said since most young people are preoccupied with distorted values, such as the pursuit of excessive material wealth, some of them may become too competitive and aggressive or become withdrawn before suffering from severe anxiety.
According to a 2013 Huffington Post report, research done by the American Psychological Association found that while consumption has increased, happiness and well-being among many Americans have decreased. In fact, the report suggests that people's sense of well-being has been in decline since the 1950s.
"Compared with their grandparents, today's young adults have grown up with much more affluence, slightly less happiness and much greater risk of depression and assorted social pathology," said the Huffington Post report, quoting an article by American social psychologist David G. Myers.
For Myers, the last 40 years of advancement in the US "has not been accompanied by one iota of increased subjective well-being."
"There is an old Chinese saying, zhizu changle, which means contentment is happiness," said Song. "But it is a great pity that more and more young people don't know this and end up losing their way."
How to resolve the problem?
Song said the key to relieving existential anxiety is to make sure that people who suffer from this problem do not dwell on their past. Also, they have to learn to build their value system: come up with their own views about what they want out of their life, career, study and so on.
"Young people must learn to take full responsibility for their own future and never give up," Song said. "They should know that they have a right to make every decision about how they want to live their life and how to enjoy it. In other words, they can choose how they chart the course of their existence."
He said this realization is the ultimate goal of many types of psychological therapy, talk therapy, mental recovery methods, and treatment plans.
Wang said she consulted a few psychologists, and they all gave her the same response, which is not to think too much and create a plan for the future.
"I miss the days when I was busy preparing my PhD paper. I was fully self-motivated and was hopeful about life," she said. "Maybe I should find a job in another sector next year, start from scratch, not mind how much money I will make, and just enjoy my own existence."
