Tis the season for SAD to creep into our minds and give us a serious case of the winter blues, SAD as in Seasonal Affective Disorder, and this winter is looking to be bleaker and more angst-inducing than ever.
Now before you start waxing poetic in your journal about the existential angst chilling you to the bone you should figure out whether you're actually suffering from angst, ennui or a bad case of weltschmerz.
Mental Floss' Arika Okrent explores the origin and meaning of these words at length in this article, but we'll just share the short versions here. Let's start with Angst:
Are you dissatisfied and worried in an introspective, overthinking German way? You’ve got angst.
Now for the most emo of the three, Ennui:
Are you tired, so tired of everything about the world and the way it is? Do you proclaim this, with a long, slow sigh, to everyone around you? You’ve got ennui.
And finally we come to the one that sounds both sad and phlegmy- Weltschmerz:
Do you have sadness in your heart for the world that can never be and sensible shoes? You’ve got weltschmerz.
Read How To Tell Whether You've Got Angst, Ennui, Or Weltschmerz at Mental Floss