Engentado is the feeling that happens before jomo, after an unwise fomo. It’s the emotion of being confined by the presence of people all around you, desperate to find some way to escape, and have some time to yourself.
Crowd comes from the same word in Old English as crud, which refers to either an expression of disgust, or to a coating of vile filth. The common idea between all of these things is the miserable feeling that comes from being pressed into a rumpled and ruined version of our former selves.
We often imagine that we will be invigorated by contact with large numbers of people, but it’s not difficult to get overwhelmed. PsychBC, a team of mental health care professionals in middle America, warns of what it calls ochlophobia, a “fear of crowds”. People suffering this condition may experience dizziness, nausea, an increased heart rate, shortness of breath, and fainting.
It used to be thought that people could be placed in the simple categories of extroverts, those who love being with other people, and introverts, those who crave time away from people. As Todd Rose, author of The End of Average, points out, tendencies toward introversion or extroversion are contextual. That is, a person will seek out and enjoy being with people in certain situations, but be repelled by the presence of people in other contexts. Someone could feel invigorated and comfortable at a professional conference, for example, but have the desperate urge to find a way to be alone during large family gatherings or social parties.
Engentado, after all, arises from the quality of our relationship to the people who surround us. It’s about our feeling of being in place, or out of place, in their company. Despite Depeche Mode’s insistence to the contrary, it’s not true to simply say “people are people”. There are some who make us feel welcomed and relaxed, and others who make us feel as if we are about to be crushed.
