The topic of mental health comes up so frequently in conversation about our response to the ongoing pandemic. It is clear that people are not doing well and that we must do more to support our collective and individual well-being. This article by Adam Grant summed up the state of things so well. I can’t stop sharing it.
In psychology, we think about mental health on a spectrum from depression to flourishing. Flourishing is the peak of well-being: You have a strong sense of meaning, mastery and mattering to others. Depression is the valley of ill-being: You feel despondent, drained and worthless.
Languishing is the neglected middle child of mental health. It’s the void between depression and flourishing — the absence of well-being. You don’t have symptoms of mental illness, but you’re not the picture of mental health either.