<![CDATA[Dictionary of Despair]]>https://www.dictionaryofdespair.comhttps://www.dictionaryofdespair.com/img/substack.pngDictionary of Despairhttps://www.dictionaryofdespair.comSubstackTue, 19 May 2026 04:19:09 GMT<![CDATA[Anticipatory Anxiety]]>https://www.dictionaryofdespair.com/p/anticipatory-anxietyhttps://www.dictionaryofdespair.com/p/anticipatory-anxietyFri, 01 Nov 2024 17:46:27 GMTThe inability to savour pleasure in the current moment due to a perception/feeling/premonition that in some future scenario (which has yet to materialize) this may deemed inappropriate or at least not be viewed favourably.

Should this scenario later materialize, the original worry can be said to have occupied a Retroactive Anxiety Zone.

]]><![CDATA[The Vocabulary of Weltschmerz]]>https://www.dictionaryofdespair.com/p/coming-soonhttps://www.dictionaryofdespair.com/p/coming-soonSat, 02 Jan 2021 20:06:37 GMTWelcome to Dictionary of Despair - the Vocabulary of Weltschmerz. A self-help guide for the time-poor and contentment-challenged. Taking the sting out of modern angst by shining a light into the dark corners of our neuroses.

Struggling to understand what ails you? Put a name to it!

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In the meantime, tell your friends!

]]><![CDATA[Welcome to the Frightgeist]]>https://www.dictionaryofdespair.com/p/welcome-to-the-frightgeisthttps://www.dictionaryofdespair.com/p/welcome-to-the-frightgeistFri, 06 Nov 2020 20:30:46 GMTFrightgeist: The atmosphere of fear which pervades the world in troubled times, driven and amplified by misinformation and poor understanding of the dilemma facing the world.

The Frightgeist is very evident in a world living in the shadow of coronavirus.

Fed by a regular diet of alarming projections and graphs of doom and reinforced by the constant sight of be-masked folk shuffling nervously around each other, the level of fear in the general populace is kept high.

Uncertainty as to the likely outcomes of coronavirus infection lead the people to demand more and more dramatic interventions, and governments reluctantly accept the need to impose ever greater restrictions on freedom.

The frightgeist is a self-amplifying entity. Fear drives the population to either demand that action is taken whilst at the same time not really accepting the consequences of those actions, or to lunge headlong into conspiracy theories.

Some of the population are able to employ doublethink to hold the damage of both the virus/other problem and the mitigating actions simultaneously in mind as 'necessary' evils. This can lead to an inability to relax based on cognitive dissonance: doublethink derangement

Others feel driven to resist the measures as an unwarranted restriction on their basic rights and freedom and will vocally oppose and actively disobey any rules, eschewing any reason: defiance delirium.

Some will take the middle ground, feeling that it is an imposition but fearing the consequences of not following. This leads to reluctant compliance which is equally damaging in that the individual feels weak and disappointed in their own unwillingness to stand up and be counted – acquiescence anxiety or submission psychosis.

Yet others will be fully bought into the measures and will be dismissive of even contemptuous of the non-compliant for any infringement. The mildest expression of this is a minor dismissiveness – giving someone the covid shoulder.

More full throated opposition to opposing views can result in the all too common modern phenomenon: the tribal tirade

The restriction and long term impact on psychological and economic wellbeing lead to the inevitable drift from frightgeist into shitegeist as the ultimate consequences become apparent.

]]><![CDATA[Zoombie]]>https://www.dictionaryofdespair.com/p/zoombiehttps://www.dictionaryofdespair.com/p/zoombieSun, 25 Oct 2020 19:50:04 GMTA modern phenomenon, born of extended homeworking due to coronavirus. It's that dead-to-the-world, thousand-yard stare of the veteran of 9 solid hours of videoconferencing. You can kill one VC but they keep on coming and the Zoombies are legion!

]]><![CDATA[Shelf-Aggrandizement]]>https://www.dictionaryofdespair.com/p/shelf-aggrandizementhttps://www.dictionaryofdespair.com/p/shelf-aggrandizementWed, 07 Oct 2020 18:45:56 GMTA relatively new phenomenon – shelf aggrandizement is the act of positioning oneself in front of the most impressive selection of erudite literature as possible during video conferences from home. Typically there will be a bookshelf in the background stocked with literary classics (spines obviously un-creased), academic treatises and possibly a work authored by the speaker having pride of place. A key method of projecting one's shelf-image, see also biblioswagger and erudition exhibitionism.

]]><![CDATA[Poormanteau]]>https://www.dictionaryofdespair.com/p/poormanteauhttps://www.dictionaryofdespair.com/p/poormanteauSun, 26 Apr 2020 17:09:46 GMTA particularly weak or low-quality instance of a portmanteau, e.g. sticknorance, grammerage or manguage.

]]><![CDATA[Resolution Recycling]]>https://www.dictionaryofdespair.com/p/resolution-recyclinghttps://www.dictionaryofdespair.com/p/resolution-recyclingWed, 01 Jan 2020 12:41:58 GMTHappy New Year!

It's that time again - resolution time. Or more like, resolution recycling. "What is this?", I hear you ask.

Resolution recycling is the phenomenon of assessing goals at the beginning of the year, only to discover that they are the same goals that one failed to achieve the previous year.

Better start working through that list, time is limited. No time for pre or procrastination, the pressure is mounting and another cycle of relaxation anxiety begins.

Maybe ease in with some desperation DIY ?

]]><![CDATA[Bubble of Obliviousness]]>https://www.dictionaryofdespair.com/p/bubble-of-obliviousnesshttps://www.dictionaryofdespair.com/p/bubble-of-obliviousnessFri, 27 Dec 2019 19:49:45 GMTSelf-awareness is what separates us from the beasts. Is it possible that some people have so much self awareness that they have no awareness left for others? Does this make them a higher form of life?

It does not.

This often seems to be an issue in crowded urban situations where space is limited and the art of politeness is a distant memory. In some situations individuals have raised this level of being inattentive to the needs of others to a zen like state :

  • the individual blocking an entire supermarket aisle in seeming contravention of the laws of physics by injudicious positioning / movement

  • the group who have stopped to have a conversation in a confined space and feel no compunction to give way to other would-be occupiers of the space

  • the family group who manage to fan out across the pathways in a public park and walk at half the speed of everyone else, leaving the only passing options as off-piste trudges through mud

The list goes on.

The Bubble of Obliviousness is a passive form of sticknorance and the experience of bouncing off one can be exacerbated if the bouncer is caught in the courtesy trap. There goes another time pocket...

]]><![CDATA[Sticknorance]]>https://www.dictionaryofdespair.com/p/sticknorancehttps://www.dictionaryofdespair.com/p/sticknoranceFri, 27 Dec 2019 19:47:38 GMTThe absolute conviction of some individuals who feel that they have been dealt a poor hand by the universe, or often an emergent phenomenon of the descent into curmudgeonly old age, that the rest of the world needs to fit around them and that it is acceptable to be rude to anyone who does not wittingly or unwittingly do so.

Civility is for others.

It isn't.

]]><![CDATA[Precrastination]]>https://www.dictionaryofdespair.com/p/precrastinationhttps://www.dictionaryofdespair.com/p/precrastinationFri, 27 Dec 2019 19:45:58 GMTRelaxation Anxiety is a subtle and cunning subversion of sensible behavior. The inability to relax, combined with the lack of desire to undertake any tedious task often leads to pointless activity to fill time in avoidance mode. Classic procrastination.

The self-aware procrastinator recognizes this tendency in themselves. Rather than slide into procrastination they learn to fill their time with tasks which are seemingly focused toward some end. It is not important whether the task is actually necessary, only the appearance of gainful activity crowding out the actual chore is important. This allows the individual to feel that they are not procrastinating whilst still avoiding the task and hence the ultimate the troublesome relaxation.

Of course the self-aware precrastinator recognizes this tendency in themselves and, rather than slip into precrastination...

]]><![CDATA[BA]]>https://www.dictionaryofdespair.com/p/bahttps://www.dictionaryofdespair.com/p/baSat, 10 Aug 2019 16:44:56 GMTSee Battery Anxiety

]]><![CDATA[Residual Parental Guilt]]>https://www.dictionaryofdespair.com/p/residual-parental-guilthttps://www.dictionaryofdespair.com/p/residual-parental-guiltSun, 04 Aug 2019 19:31:12 GMTYou do your best to raise them and then send them out into the world, knowing that you have done all that you possibly can to prepare them.

Right?

Wrong.

It doesn't end there. In the increasingly likely scenario that your beloved offspring do not flee the nest, one is left with the uneasiness of reclaiming a life whilst the focus of it for so long is still present and demanding attention. At least if the offspring have left home, there is just the ongoing nagging worry about their well-being. When the offshoots do not shoot off, a whole new territory of relaxation anxiety is open for exploration.

]]><![CDATA[Litmus of Limitation]]>https://www.dictionaryofdespair.com/p/litmus-of-limitationhttps://www.dictionaryofdespair.com/p/litmus-of-limitationSun, 04 Aug 2019 19:29:23 GMTWe all generally feel that we are locked at some notional age, perhaps in our early twenties, but how does one establish when youth has decided to sneak out the back door whilst you weren't paying attention?

There are any number of signs.

Some of them are external such as being asked whether you are a CAMRA member whenever you go to the bar, or finding that every conversation with old friends begins with a catalogue of ailments which have overtaken you both since you last met.

Other indicators are internal.

Find that alcohol no longer bestows upon you the sweet oblivion of unconsciousness, but rather keeps you sleepless and irritable?

Have those years of developing iron bladder control finally deserted you such that you are unable to make it through a night without a trip to the toilet?

Do you genuinely consider that elasticated waist trousers and vari-focal glasses are the pinnacle of human invention?

Take heed ... and action before it is too late!

]]><![CDATA[Misanthropic Principle]]>https://www.dictionaryofdespair.com/p/misanthropic-principlehttps://www.dictionaryofdespair.com/p/misanthropic-principleSun, 04 Aug 2019 19:24:32 GMTThe anthropic principle states that the universe has been fine-tuned to support the existence of life.

The misanthropic principle states that the universe (and specifically the presence of others within it) is fine-tuned to cause irritation and support the development of umbrage.

]]><![CDATA[Veteran Vertebrae]]>https://www.dictionaryofdespair.com/p/veteran-vertebraehttps://www.dictionaryofdespair.com/p/veteran-vertebraeSun, 04 Aug 2019 19:22:15 GMTOf all of the depressing failings associated with advancing years, surely having to wave goodbye to flexibility and the ability to move without first considering the implications is the worst?

The unexpected back spasm can happen at any time and be both painful and embarrassing but, as time has its insidious way, a new peril pulls itself up, groaning and wincing to inflict unnecessary misery.

Extreme sports enthusiast can expect the occasional back injury.

Bungee jumpers? Fair enough.

But damaging a back whilst turning, lying down or even just sleeping?

What now?

Sound familiar? Veteran vertebrae. Get used to it.

]]><![CDATA[Desperation DIY]]>https://www.dictionaryofdespair.com/p/desperation-diyhttps://www.dictionaryofdespair.com/p/desperation-diySun, 04 Aug 2019 19:20:31 GMTEven the most hardened procrastinator will sometimes be driven to undertake long delayed tasks.

Eventually the lure of time to oneself, albeit low quality time involving a tedious task, becomes too great to resist.

How did it come to this?

Savour it while you can...

]]><![CDATA[Anxiety Anxiety]]>https://www.dictionaryofdespair.com/p/anxiety-anxietyhttps://www.dictionaryofdespair.com/p/anxiety-anxietySun, 04 Aug 2019 19:19:36 GMTA form of anxiety caused by the apparent lack of something to be anxious about. The lack of something to worry about causes extreme anxiety and a feeling that something has been forgotten and that it may result in truly awful consequences.

]]><![CDATA[Zeitgeist Dissociation]]>https://www.dictionaryofdespair.com/p/zetitgeist-dissociationhttps://www.dictionaryofdespair.com/p/zetitgeist-dissociationSun, 04 Aug 2019 19:17:41 GMTThe cardinal sin of not being in touch with the currently cool and becoming an online outcast.

This is a particular peril in the modern age. You have taken your eyes off the internet and the hipsters have moved on and left you behind.

Oh the shame of being the only one still using Instagram... middle aged at 22.

Associated with and can be brought on by Information Overload Anxiety.

]]><![CDATA[Information Overload Anxiety]]>https://www.dictionaryofdespair.com/p/information-overload-anxietyhttps://www.dictionaryofdespair.com/p/information-overload-anxietySun, 04 Aug 2019 19:15:21 GMTThe brain only contains so much storage, processing power etc. This is the flip side of SMANX - rather than worrying about not being active enough on social media, this is the fear of missing something important in the information deluge.

This is an aspect of what is referred to as FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) by the young folk on their interweb.

]]><![CDATA[Pre-emptive Acquiesence]]>https://www.dictionaryofdespair.com/p/pre-emptive-acquiesencehttps://www.dictionaryofdespair.com/p/pre-emptive-acquiesenceSun, 04 Aug 2019 19:12:39 GMTAgreeing/Acquiescing/Admitting culpability as a way of defusing an argument before it really gets started.

If correctly timed when one party is geared up for a fight, this is a passive aggressive coup de grace.

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