It is important to note that the hypothesis outlined in this paper is biopsychosocial. While most acknowledge that existential crises can occur for psychological or social reasons, this paper is careful to note that certain brain regions play a crucial role in mediating existential distress. As this paper will later explain, deficits in these brain regions entail a diminished ability to mollify existential distress. As such, individuals with these deficits may suffer a psychotic break when individuals without these deficits would not. However, this understanding of psychosis is not purely biological: these deficits are not necessary for a psychotic episode to occur, as severity of existential distress can overwhelm any individual.