MHM Magazine

20 | MENTALHEALTHMATTERS | Issue 5 | 2021 MHM Does this sound familiar? Not flour- ishing, not depressed, but drifting along somewhere in-between? After the shock and trauma of 2020, the long haul effect of the pandemic has caught up with us in the form of something very few had heard of until now –“languishing.” This article will explain what languishing is and why it’s happening, then practical ways in which you can shift yourself out of this state. WHAT IS LANGUISHING? The term was first used by sociolo- gist Corey Keyes in 2002, in a paper exploring mental health (flourishing) or it’s absence (languishing). It was defined as the antithesis of flourish- ing at that time, which is interesting in that the economic crash of 2008 had not happened yet, let alone a pandemic. Almost twenty years later, the term is an accurate description of the “mood of 2021.” Languishing is not a mental illness as such but rather, a set of distressing emotions that includes joylessness, emptiness, monotony, restlessness and stagnation. If you look and listen around you, it’s becoming more apparent that people are feeling restless, apathetic, unsettled. And there’s also a tendency to have less interest in life or what used to bring us joy. It’s not quite depression but if you have a history of depression and anxiety (or are genetically predisposed) you will tend to be more prone to languishing than others. Depression and languishing are not the same entities, however. While they can present similarly there are distinct differences between the two. For example, symptoms of depression include sadness, changes in appetite, feelings of worthlessness, and thoughts of death or suicide. Languishing is more about indifference and a lack of joy or fulfilment. Languishing is not the same as burnout either. Another feature of languishing is quick bursts of energy and productivity, followed by a feeling of “what’s the point” or “why bother” and/or fatigue. This makes it look like burnout, but the difference is that there isn’t a progressive exhaustion and demotivation. Rather, there’s a constant feeling of joylessness and demotivation, interspersed with By Dr Colinde Linde Clinical psychologist and SADAG Chairperson Johannesburg LOST YOUR JOY? YOU COULD HAVE A CASE OF LANGUISHING “I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I don’t feel like I have a full on depression, but there’s nothing that brings me joy either. I’m just going through the motions every day.”