How did Martin Heidegger connect anxiety with human existence?

For the German philosopher Martin Heidegger, anxiety is a fundamental concept that reveals the nature of human existence, which he termed Dasein (literally "being-there").21

Heidegger posits that anxiety is one of the primary ways through which Dasein is disclosed as a contingent being. By experiencing anxiety, the individual is confronted with the reality of their own existence as a set of possibilities rather than a fixed, factual nature. This experience is essential because it is through anxiety that the possibility of fear—which relates to specific objects or situations in the world—first becomes possible.23

Furthermore, anxiety plays a critical role in Heidegger’s distinction between authentic and inauthentic existence. While many individuals seek to escape the weight of their own finitude through distraction and conformity to the anonymous "They" (das Man), anxiety forces a confrontation with the reality of one's own existence. By understanding the "impossibility" of all existential possibilities—a limit represented ultimately by death—an individual can move toward an authentic existence.145