expression, noun
desperation; recklessness from despair
Colloquial expression for a state of reckless desperation, often implying that one has given up and is acting wildly. Used in phrases like 自棄のやんぱちになる or 自棄のやんぱちで.
失恋して自棄のやんぱちになり、やけ酒をあおった。
After the heartbreak, I became desperate and drowned my sorrows in drink.
自棄のやんぱちで仕事を辞めてしまった。
In a fit of desperation, I quit my job.
The phrase combines 自棄 (やけ, 'desperation') with やんぱち, which is likely a playful, emphatic suffix derived from a personal name or a sound-symbolic element. The exact origin of やんぱち is uncertain.