The work proposes a typology of escapism, describes a type of existential escapism, including its extreme form - suicide. The phenomenon of existential escapism is shown as paradoxical - capable of simultaneously acting as the embodiment of human freedom and non-freedom. There is a mechanism for transforming identities and deconstructing the utopian ideal of freedom in virtualized reality. The historical outline of the transformation of the idea of ​ ​ freedom is given - from its manifestation in the slogans of the French Revolution to absolutization in response to the development of totalitarian regimes of the twentieth century.