My mother's translation was "world sadness." I was sad all the time as a child. I wrote a poem at the time about how beautiful days were more than I could take. I was more at home when it was gloomy or raining. I was easily crushed or heartbroken when someone I knew was disappointed or hurt. I had a disabled great aunt (she had had scarlet fever as a child) who would buy me things out of a catalog. She didn't understand that the pictures in the catalog were misleading. She'd get really excited. When the item arrived, she would be so disappointed and confused she would cry, bitterly. I would be TORN UP..for weeks. Well, still am.

I always shared in other people's pain. I would cry when my siblings were crying. Heck, I cried all the time. My father once liberated a crooked little pine tree from some wisteria. That was wonderful. But then he cut the pine tree down. I was devastated!!! I had to take to my bed.

Back to Wikipedia, "It is also used to denote the feeling of anxiety caused by the ills of the world.

The modern meaning of Weltschmerz in the German language is the psychological pain caused by sadness that can occur when realizing that someone's own weaknesses are caused by the inappropriateness and cruelty of the world and (physical and social) circumstances. Weltschmerz in this meaning can cause depression, resignation and escapism, and can become a mental problem (compare Hikikomori)."

I watched the early, uncensored coverage of 9/11. I watched as a man stood dumbstruck as bodies fell and hit the ground around him. I lost a lot of stability then and haven't been truly stable since.

I know this is a lot more information than you wanted to know. It just kinda came out. sorry.