Which term are feelings of despair resulting from a failure to make our own choices?

Which term are feelings of despair resulting from a failure to make our own choices?

• A. Existential Guilt
• B. Existential Neurosis
• C. Anxiety
• D. Freedom

Answer: (B)

In existential psychology, the stress comes from the burden of freedom and the responsibility to choose one's own path. When someone feels despair because they haven’t made their own choices, it reflects existential neurosis—the ongoing distress that arises from avoidance of authentic decision-making. The person senses many possibilities but remains paralyzed, and that accumulation of avoided choices manifests as a deep, persistent sense of unease. This differs from existential guilt, which centers on feeling bad for not living up to one’s own values, and from general anxiety, which is a broader, less specific form of worry. Freedom itself is the ability to choose, not the feeling described here.

In existential psychology, the stress comes from the burden of freedom and the responsibility to choose one's own path. When someone feels despair because they haven’t made their own choices, it reflects existential neurosis—the ongoing distress that arises from avoidance of authentic decision-making. The person senses many possibilities but remains paralyzed, and that accumulation of avoided choices manifests as a deep, persistent sense of unease. This differs from existential guilt, which centers on feeling bad for not living up to one’s own values, and from general anxiety, which is a broader, less specific form of worry. Freedom itself is the ability to choose, not the feeling described here.