Why the Dictionary of Despair?
The Dictionary of Despair arose out of a recognition of the stresses and anxieties which bedevil us all and prevent us (without an awareness of why) from just kicking back and being…
We aim to provide an oasis of sanity in an increasingly silly and stressed-out world…naming what ails us in the hope that this will allow us to exorcise it, at least laugh it off.
We first felt the need for a space such as this with our discovery of Relaxation Anxiety Syndrome and its strange absence from any of the learned literature. This is a pernicious and persistent syndrome which affects all ages, causing stress which often well outlasts the original cause.
It comes in many forms. It can be triggered by being overworked (employer over-expectation) but also by becoming a parent (spouse and self over-expectation). This syndrome is experienced as a sense of uneasiness with free time and an inability to appreciate it without feelings of guilt at something being ‘left undone’.
While the world agonizes over financial deficits and pandemics the real issue has been missed. The crisis facing the modern world is a time deficit, leading to communication austerity… and of course, further manifestations of various anxiety syndromes.
Time poverty and the inability to happily consume time should a morsel come your way perhaps typify the many forms of modern angst we are here to identify and combat. We firmly believe that a problem shared is a problem that others can laugh at.
The time for quiet desperation is over.
Home to the healing power of the absurd and the cathartic rant, help us reclaim the time which is rightfully ours and put a name to all that ails us… welcome to Dictionary of Despair.
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