In recent decades, the freedom of individual life design has grown enormously in Western societies, and traditional role expectations and social ties have been dissolved. The old question "What am I allowed to do?" has been replaced by the new question "What am I capable of, what can I do?". As a result, people today are confronted with a new source of suffering: their inability to utilize the freedoms and choices available for a successful life. The spread of a new language of suffering related to narcissistic personality disorders and depressive illnesses is a consequence. In his monumental study, Alain Ehrenberg traces this development through two large-scale case studies in France and the USA.