Poll: What is "Angst" to you?

[freaper]

I can see this discussion may not be headed in the most serious possible direction, but I'll weigh in seriously anyway.

It is very much appreciated!

I do find it strange that I can't remember a single moment in my education where we spent so much as an hour talking about self-confidence, angst, self-development, depression and the like. In many classrooms you'll see a session or two dedicated to SexEd, but to me mental well-being is equally important and should, therefore, also be covered in school, not necessarily to spin it in a philosophical direction, but at the very least to show that it is acceptable to express doubts in a semi-public sphere. Right now it feels like a subject that is either shunned or expected to be "self-taught".

 

[Shraggler]

I define angst as a feeling of frustration over undesirable and nebulous circumstance. It is anger, anguish and turmoil felt when the vagaries of existence cause one to feel powerless. When a situation cannot be confronted or solved, and the implications of being a part of it have far reaching consequences past the immediate time and setting.

I don't associate it with teenagers and immaturity. I feel that age range gets this appellation due to the particularities of neurochemical changes that occur around that time in our lives. Eventually, because of the literal immaturity of adolescence, it causes a negative, condescending connotation when used.

But I generally associate it with the outcast and the passively ostracized.

 

[Dizchu]

Angst is the thing I had as a teenager and older people said it'd go away but it remained.
Maybe that's just clinical depression though. *ba-dum-tshh* ...Tough crowd.

I think angst is an existential thing. Teenagers get it because their childhood naivete collides with the looming inevitability of their adult responsibilities, mixed with a confusion of a sense of place in the universe. As a child you get attention from your parents, but as you get older you try to find that attention elsewhere through "exploring yourself".

My existential "angst" is influenced a lot by my gender identity (or lack of it) and gender dysphoria. Makes me wonder if I'm the "real" me or if my true self is some nebulous concept that never came into full fruition. Weird stuff.

 

[Ieyke]

As a Texan whose first language was German, I spent a long LOOONG time like "WTF are people even talking about here?" in regards to "angst".

Obviously, it actually means fear.
But English speakers use it as....anxiety, melancholy, or despair...

 

[Blackhawk661]

Well, i've been thinking about this a lot recently, not that I ever wanted.
For me angst is anxiety. It's not the same as depression, because that is just closing in, protecting yourself from any possible harm. For me angst is the fear of losing your "ground" or sense of reality when you don't even have yourself as shelter from the storm. It's a horrible feeling that I never had before. But people say this comes and goes at my age.

And as for the chocolates, I think it's Milk. White is gross D Imagine giving that as a present for example to a girl you like. It's like pepsi.

 

[Michel Henzel]

The word for Fear in my own language, I don't know any other meaning for the word. So what does it mean in English?

 

[Vicarious Reality]

I vote dark since dried criollo cacao is blackish brown

Funny you mention that in a thread about being nervous, trust no one