Are you Languishing? How To Recover From It?

Do you know what languishing is? Languishing can be described as a very dull feeling where you are low on energy, low on motivation, etc. It basically is feeling ‘meh’ all the time. It’s like you’re experiencing all the things that you do when you’re sad but you’re not really sad or depressed.

Have you ever felt like everything is dull around you and that you have no motivation to make things better? If yes, you have been languishing. Languishing can last from a few hours to a few days. It feels like you’re sad but you don’t really know why.

You can’t explain what you are feeling and why you are feeling that way. It’s just a numb moment where everything around you feels like it’s oozing out sadness. Languishing can put you in a loop where even a tiny distraction can make you feel better but getting yourself distracted can be a little tricky.

In this blog today we are going to understand the concept of languishing, its symptoms, and how you can stop languishing and start finding productive flow back in your life.

Shall we begin?

What Does Languishing Mean?

As we just discussed, languishing can be described as a very dull feeling which often leads to symptoms that mimic intense sadness and depression. You do not have the motivation to even clean your room or take a shower.

Oflately during the pandemic, many people have experienced languishing. Don’t you agree? When the pandemic began, we were still productive and put ourselves to proper productivity. But as time passed by, everything slowed down and there came languishing.

We would often feel sad, lonely, irritated for no reason, etc. we were simply surviving and not living our lives at all. If you can have a similar experience during the pandemic, my dear you have experienced languishing.

Languishing is also very addictive, no matter how much you hate being in this dull state of mind, you cannot bring yourself up to being productive and happy easily. Want to know what else languishing looks like?

What Are the Symptoms Of Languishing?

According to the American psychiatric association, languishing means the absence of mental health. Languishing is defined as the absence of engagement and motivation and the presence of intense dissatisfaction and apathy.

Although languishing is not considered a clinical health condition, it can have adverse effects on your mental as well as physical health. It has the potential to foster various severe mental health conditions therefore, it’s important to identify and cope with languishing as early as possible.

No know what languishing looks and feels like, let’s look at some common symptoms of languishing so that you can recognize it before it’s too late;

At Home:

• Constant feeling of emptiness
• You feel unwell even when you’re not sick at all
• Alexithymia (inability to describe your feelings)
• Feel like your future is dark
• Engage in risky behavior to seek temporary relief
• You feel like you’re just surviving with no motive
• It feels like you’re experiencing some life crisis (mid-life/quarter-life crisis)

At Work:

• Disconnected with other co-workers
• Constant feelings of confusion, irritation, and sadness
• No excitement about anything at work
• Always cynical about things at work (leaders, projects, timelines, etc)
• Difficulty in concentrating
• Memory issues
• Procrastination at work
• Experience intense stress at work

How To Stop Languishing?

Languishing can be extremely detrimental to your health as well as your social and personal life. It creates a limiting environment around you that stops you from leading a happy, healthy, and productive life.

If you have recognized languishing in your life, worry no more! All you need to do is make some lifestyle changes and adapt to a positive and productive thought process. Want to know how to achieve that?

Here you go:

1. Invest in a gratitude journal. It will help you understand and realize that there are many things you have to be grateful for and that you should acknowledge and value the privileges you have.

2. Never you feeling unnamed or unidentified. Always try to dig deep into your feelings and thoughts and name your feelings so that you’re more clear about your state of mind

3. Don’t forget to have fun in life. Nothing is going to happen before time and before it’s scheduled to happen. Make sure you have enough fun to keep your life exciting

4. Try to keep your flow consistent. Being in flow is very important if you want to stop languishing. Working too hard one moment and doing nothing the other moment will confuse your mind.

5. Be honest with yourself. Rejecting or neglecting your feelings and thoughts will not make things worse for you. Always be honest about your feelings so that you can find proper solutions.

6. Engage in self-care. It is very important to look after yourself so that you can keep yourself away from destructive conditions like languishing, burnout, stress, etc.

7. Stay connected with your loved ones. When you have a strong support system, it’s very easy to fight any battle.

8. Get professional help. If nothing seems to work for you know that it’s time to get some help. A mental health coach can direct you in the correct direction and help you stop languishing.

That’s All Folks!

I hope you found this blog about languishing helpful, interesting, and thought-provoking. Do share this blog with your friends and family so that we can all identify languishing as early as possible and learn ways to stop languishing and start finding flow in life.

Thanks for reading.

Take care and stay safe.