A few days ago an article published in the New York Times, signed by Adam Grant, a psychologist of the University of Pennsylvania, describes with a lot of realism the emotional state that seems to have characterized our daily life in the last months of this absurd year of pandemic: the Languishing.
This expression, which in Italian could be translated with the verb languishindicates a condition of absence of well -being, purpose and joy. In which the motivation and the vital push seem to have turned off, leaving the person in a state of inertia and devitalization.
The author of the article describes the Languishing like “a sense of stagnation and emptiness. You feel as if you were confusing in the days, as if you looked at your life from a fogged window. This could be the dominant emotion of 2021“.
The term Languishing It was coined a few years ago, in unsuspected times, by the sociologist Corey Keyes (2002). It indicates a mental state that, ideally, could be placed halfway along the continuum which, within the “mental health/pathology” spectrum, binds the condition of depression and its opposite pole. What is indicated as Flourishing (literally a state of emotional vitality that makes the person “flourish”, as described by Seligman & Csikszentmihalyly in 2000).
In the condition of Languishingalthough the symptoms of a real mental disorder does not appear, the person does not perceive a state of well -being, feeling demotivated to put his resources and abilities into play.
Keyes coins this term to indicate those people who, although not depressed, are not “prospecting”.
The risk of psychopathology associated with Languishing
The Languishingmore nuanced and perhaps more subtle than a real psychopathology, it may for this reason represent a risk factor for the development of mental disorders (Keyes et al., 2010; Iasiello et al., 2019).
In his research, Keyes claims that people who will manifest symptoms of greater depression or anxiety disorders over the following ten years are those that, at the time of initial observation, do not complain about these symptoms, but precisely the state of Languishing.
As indicated by a recent Italian study conducted on healthcare personnel in Lombardy, a region of the most bitterly affected by the contagion by Covid-19, the subjects who have expressed signals of Languishing In the spring of 2020 they saw the probability of developing post-traumatic stress disorder increased compared to their colleagues.
If last year, in this period, the most widespread mental states were those relating to anxiety, fear, alarm, the sense of uncertainty, today, next to them, a sense of mental fatigue, apathy, demotivation, resignation is accompanied.
As if the long months of restrictions, modification of the working conditions, suspension of recreational activities and social isolation had made us slip in a passive resignation in which we can survive but, of course, we do not “feel alive”.
How to counteract the Languishing
Is there an antidote to all this? How we can contrast the Languishing cultivating his opposite, the Flourishingthat is, a mental state of well -being, emotional coloring, flowering and psychological prosperity?
Over the past decades, various authors have ventured into the study of factors that promote optimal psychological functioning, within that research and intervention vein called positive psychology.
One of the best known models is the one proposed by Ryff and Keyes (1995) and later taken up by Ruini (2017), which defines the concept of well -being based on the presence of six dimensions:
- Self -acceptance: positive attitude towards oneself, welcome and integration of positive and negative characteristics, acceptance of one’s past
- Autonomy: self -determination, ability to prefigure personal objectives and identification of strategies to achieve them, regulation of one’s behavior
- Environmental mastery: sense of mastery and ability to interact with the environment using external opportunities, ability to create contexts favorable to one’s needs and values
- Positive relationships: presence of supporting and reliable relationships, sources of satisfaction and personal well -being, ability to experience empathy and intimacy
- Purpose in life: presence of purposes and self-directions, perception of meaning in one’s life, values
- Personal growth: feeling of continuous development of self, opening to new experiences experienced as an opportunity for growth, personal enrichment
The six dimensions to work on
Based on this model, a channel through which to grow the state of Flourishing And to make one’s life flourish could be to enhance each of the six elements whose psychological well -being is composed, even if the conditions of restrictions and social isolation make this task even more difficult than it would not be “in normal times”.
If we realize to live one state Languishingwe can try to implement a change of course through the care of these six dimensions:
- Acceptance: The first and most important step to resume one’s life in hand is to recognize and accept what we are, with our positive and negative aspects, recognizing how our emotions are valid and therefore legitimizing a possible state of discomfort. The condition d Languishing It is very common, there is no reason to try shame or guilt. Not recognizing it, neglecting or denying it could lead to magnifying the problem. It is essential to recognize that you are in difficulty and, if necessary, ask for help from a professional.
- Autonomy and environmental mastery: We become responsible for our well -being. Even if we cannot change the environmental situation around us, we can identify what is in our power to do. Let’s set realistic objectives in the short, medium and long term and identify timing, tools and strategies to reach them. We organize our time in the most functional way possible, trying not to fragment our activities, not to feed a sense of incomplete and dispersion of energy. We remember to insert physical movement, space for relaxation and pleasant activities.
- Positive relationships: We cultivate deep and continuous relationships with people, in presence (where possible) or through the means of communication offered by technology, so as to share what we feel, we feel or think. We will realize that we are not alone and we could draw comfort from the ruling and offer empathy.
- Purpose in life. We recover our values, what is important and significant for our life, and we keep the focus on them. Pandemia may have forced us to modify the means and ways through which to deploy our potential, but it cannot have obscured the ultimate purpose of our existence.
- Personal growth: Let’s try to consider a moment of difficulty as an opportunity for growth. Nobody hopes to feel pain in one’s life, but this unfortunately is an inevitable condition of existence. The contagion from Covid-19 could have involved us directly or indirectly, may have caused great suffering to us, to our loved ones, to our friends, to our community, could have hit us at a medical, working, economic, school or relational level. However, it could not have damaged us only. Perhaps something also taught us, perhaps it allowed an improvement of a part of us. And it must not necessarily be something extraordinary. Perhaps he made us more aware of the importance of what we have been deprived of, perhaps he made us more skilled to use technology to work, perhaps he made us more creative in do-it-yourself. It is valuable to ask us if this is the case, questioning what improvements we can see in ourselves: everything can be an opportunity for growth.
To conclude, it may be a stimulus to resume the words of Adam Grant, author of the New York Times article mentioned above: “If you don’t have depression, it doesn’t mean that you are not suffering. If you don’t have the burn out, it does not mean that you are not exhausted. Knowing that many of us are “languishing”, we can finally start giving voice to this subdued despair “.
Bibliography
- Bassi, M., Negri, L., delle Fave, A., & Accardi, R. (2021). The Relationship Bethaeen Post-Traumatic Stress and Positive Mental Health Symptoms Among Health Workers During Covid-19 Pandemic in Lombardy, Italy. Journal of affective disorders, 2801-6.
- Iasello, M., Van Agteren, J., Keyes, CLM, & Cochrane, EM (2019). Positive Mental Health As a predictor of recovery from mental illness. Journal of affective disorders, 51227-230
- Keyes, CLM (2002). The Mental Health Continuum: from Languishing to Flourishing in Life. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 43207-222.
- Keyes, cl m, Dhingra, SS, & Simoes, and (2010). Change in Level of Positive Mental Health As a Predictor of Future Risk of Mental Illness. American Journal of Public Health, 100(12), 2366-2371.
- Ruini, C. (2017). Positive Psychology in The Clinical Domains, Research and Practice. Bologna: Springer International Publishing.
- Ryff, CD, & Keyes, cl (1995). The Structure of Psychological Well-Boing Revisited. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69 (4), 719-727
- Seligman, M. and P., & Csikszentmihaalyi, M. (2000). Positive Psychology: AN Introduction. American Psychologist, 55, 5-14
- https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/19/well/mind/covid-altral-health-languishing.html
