Have you ever had someone ask how you are doing and you are at a loss of how to answer or at a loss to how you are actually feeling. That blah, indifference to anything and everything type of feeling – you could be experiencing languishing.
This not-so-new concept has become quite commonplace in the last few years and is a concept we are hearing more about. Here Thrive explains what languishing is and what we can do about it.
What is languishing?
There is a lot more to mental health than just being good or bad, it is a spectrum. In an attempt to create a deeper understanding of mental health, it can be categorised into four levels:
- Flourishing – peak mental health
- Good to moderate mental health
- Languishing – poor mental health
- Depression – experiencing a mental health condition
Languishing is wrapped in the middle of the mental health continuum; it is the absence of mental wellness, a state of not being at your best but not at your worst either.
First introduced by psychologist Corey Keyes in 2002, languishing, as Keyes describes it, is an emptiness and stagnation, constituting a life of quiet despair. It is a feeling of numbness, where you experience few strong emotions. It is a lack of engagement and apathy, a place where you simply remain in a state of neutrality.
What Languishing looks like?
Languishing is that ambivalent feeling as if life is something that happens, rather than something that you actively cultivate, participate in, and enjoy. Here are some of the feelings or experiences that can come with languishing:
- Feeling disconnected or dissociated
- Feeling deeply lonely or isolated
- A lack of motivation or procrastinating
- Struggling to focus
- Feeling like you’re not functioning to full capacity
- Inability to describe your feelings or experience any strong emotions
- A sense of emptiness or dullness
- Feeling as if you are just going through the motions, feel trapped or stuck
- Feel like life is missing something, there is nothing to look forward to
- Not thinking or particularly caring about the future
- Rarely have strong opinions
In AXA’s 2023 global Mind Health study, it found a higher percentage of people (28%) were languishing compared to those who were flourishing (24%). The study also revealed woman experience languishing more than men at 30% compared to 25%.
It also found Ireland had an above-average percentage of languishing at 29% compared to our global counterparts.
Other research has shown a continued state of languishing can increase the risk of experiencing mental health conditions such as anxiety disorders and major depression down the line.
What to do about it?
In his work on flourishing, Dr. Martin Seligman concluded the best method to move from a state of languishing to flourishing is the PERMA model which stands for:
Positive emotions
This may sound like an obvious but difficult area to integrate into your daily life but by consciously experiencing positive emotions we can learn to improve our wellbeing. Positive emotions are a prime indicator of flourishing and have numerous benefits - improving our thinking, acting, and cognitive ability.
Find ways to deliberately increase positive emotions in your life and if repeatedly exercised, these positive emotions will become noticed and automatic over time. Start small by practicing gratitude, writing down things you are grateful for, things you love, appreciate, and feel good about.
Engagement
Engagement refers to being fully immersed in a particular activity that consumes our attention in a positive way. This is often referred to as flow, it is living in and focusing entirely on the present moment and the task at hand. When we are in a state of flow we perform to our peak and experience less anxiety.
Take a look at our recent article on how to find your flow state.
Relationships
Having positive relationships with understanding and respect yields a deep sense of connection and support. Investing time and energy into fostering close relationships enhances our resilience and wellbeing.
Research has demonstrated that sharing good news, celebrating success, and responding enthusiastically to others increases intimacy, wellbeing and overall satisfaction.
Meaning
Meaning or purpose in life looks different for everyone but it is based on the things that bring your life value. Seligman discussed meaning as belonging or serving something greater than ourselves and helps us focus on what is important in life.
If you are looking for meaning, try and engage in small activities at first that leave you feeling fulfilled afterwards – this could be anything from volunteering to a small random act of kindness.
Accomplishments
A sense of accomplishment is the result of working toward and reaching a goal you have set for yourself. Accomplishments can boost our morale by helping us feel productive, that we are moving forward, and can give us a huge sense of pride.
Set small, challenging but realistic goals and check them off once completed – this can fuel our motivation, sense of achievement, and ultimately our happiness.
If you feel as if you are in floundering in a state of languishing, the Thrive wellbeing team is professionally trained to offer wellbeing advice and support to help you on your journey to a thriving and flourishing life.
You can contact the wellbeing team by email at: thrive@charteredaccountants.ie or by phone: (+353) 86 0243294.
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