existential angst
Meaning-crisis panic attack
Existential angst is a deep unease about the fundamental conditions of human existence—mortality, meaninglessness, freedom, isolation.
The term draws from existentialist philosophy but has entered everyday speech for any profound anxiety about life's purpose or direction: I'm having existential angst about turning forty.
Often used with mild self-awareness, acknowledging the drama of one's own brooding.
- alienationState of being isolated
- authenticityQuality of being genuine
- despairTotal absence of hope
- anxietyPersistent apprehensive distress
- fear of deathDread of dying
freedom · choice · being-in-the-world · existentialism · hopelessness · the void · introspection · absurdity · nihilism · forlornness · dark night of the soul · responsibility · leap of faith · meaning-making · melancholy · Sartre · no exit · identity crisis
- existential dreaddread, anguish, meaninglessness, nothingness, the void
- existentialismexistence, authenticity, nothingness, absurdity, being
- HeideggerDasein, being-in-the-world, authenticity, inauthenticity, care
- Weltschmerzweltschmerz, world-weariness, melancholy, ennui, malaise
- outsidersoutcast, outsider, outcasts, pariah, misfit
- philosophyethics, logic, metaphysics, ontology, epistemology
existential angstinner peace
Mental and emotional tranquility
serenity · equanimity · contentment · tranquility · peace of mind
existential angstpurposefulness
Having deliberate intent
meaning · rootedness · self-actualization · faith · conviction