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This book is an elaboration of a paper given by Boss at the Fifth International Congress for Psychotherapy at the University of Vienna. In it he attempts to explain both the meaning of anxiety and guilt feelings in philosophical terms and what can be done to liberate the individual from these feelings. He points out that in the past the prevailing neurotic pictures were hysterias, obsessive-compulsive neuroses with or without conversion symptoms, and depressions with self-accusations and guilt feelings. Nowadays anxiety and guilt are hidden deeply inside the body in the majority of patients. They undramatically express themselves in functional disturbances of vital organs. They are hidden behind the smooth facade of boredom and feelings of the meaninglessness of one's life. The German word, Langeweile, boredom, is literally translated as “a long while.” Boss finds a nostalgic implication in this, such as a secret longing for one's home and for being taken care of. Behind the yawning emptiness is a powerful urge to gain insight into the loss of one's homestead. Since insight into this would be painful, the individual makes frantic attempts to forestall its possible emergence, with or without resorting to stimulants, narcotics, and tranquilizers. According to Boss, the cause for this alienation from one's self lies in the overwhelming power of the machine. The individual, degraded to the role of a little wheel in a big machine, drives other wheels in a mechanical way.