If you’ve been feeling offbut can’t exactly call it depressionyou could very well be languishing.
Similar toburnout, more and more people are experiencing this phenomenon on a global scale.
So, we asked experts what languishing really is, plus how to deal with it.
What is languishing?
In modern psychology, languishing is thought of as the opposite of flourishing.
It is both the “absence of mental health and mental illness,” according to psychologist Corey L.M.
As Carmichael notes, this can even look like having no specific goals set or no challenges to face.
“You’re just kind drifting through on a day-to-day-jot down of level,” she explains.
“Underlying the languishing is this feeling of numbness and burnout and lack of motivation,” Neff says.
Low self-worth
As Carmichael explains,low self-worthand languishing can become a cyclical problem.
“So then you’re starting tobehaviorallydegrade your sense of self-worth.”
That behavioral degradation can look like struggling with basic tasks, which brings us to our next point.
Restlessness
According to Neff, restlessness is another characteristic of languishing.
Languishing vs. depression.
Despite their similarities, there are distinctions between languishing and depression.
How to cope:
Ask for outside help.
“But why wait until it gets to that point?
Therapy is a proactive way of caring for yourself,” she says.
There aredifferent types of therapythat can be appropriate for people who are dealing with languishing.
According to Carmichael, exercise is a really great way to jump-start the body and the mind.
Practice self-compassion.
It’s about acknowledging that, “Yeah, this hurts.
And it’s difficult.
It’s painful,” she adds.
Plan a getaway.
So what do you do?
Try self-help audiobooks.
The takeaway.
If you feel like you are languishing, know you’re far from alone.
As Neff says, there’s nothing wrong with you for feeling this way.
In fact, it’s to be expected given all that’s happening in the world.
