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The Face of Languishing

Languishing impacts 1 in 5 people, quietly affecting how they show up at work, at home, and in life—with serious, far-reaching consequences. The Face of Languishing brings this invisible struggle to light through real human stories—people who didn’t have the words for what they were feeling, who didn’t know how to make a change, but found their own way forward.

Real human stories that show different people going through the same thing, in their own unique way. Real humans who were surprised to hear about the stats. Real humans who had to find their own ways of dealing with feeling not quite right, as they didn’t know how to go about making positive change.

Thomas's Story

Thomas shares how COVID lockdowns during his senior years of school left him feeling stuck and lost, long after they ended. After a year of standing still in a state of Languishing, he decided to kickstart his life and began running his 5K daily, and kickstarted a new chapter of creativity and momentum in his life. Watch Thomas's story.

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Tara's Story

During experiencing new motherhood, Tara found herself Languishing. She shares the painful gap between expectation of joy and her feelings of inadequacy and isolation. By prioritising her mental wellbeing, she rediscovered her spark. Her message to new mums: self-care isn’t a luxury—it’s essential. Watch Tara's story.

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Luke's Story

Luke shares how success on the outside can mask an emptiness within, appearances are not always as they seem. After learning his experience of Languishing was not an isolated case, he felt inspired and reconnected with his passions, finding true purpose and meaning in his life. Watch Luke's story.

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Enza's Story

After being made redundant and unable to get work, Enza was confined to her role as carer for her husband and ill son, leaving her to begin Languishing. She struggled with feelings of stagnation and losing her purpose in the face of home life pressures. Her turning point was reaching out and connecting with a friend to share she was not feeling quite right and in doing so, felt lighter. Watch Enza's story.

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Joanne's Story

Joanne shares her experience with Languishing, how feeling lost and disconnected as a Uni student ultimately led her to rediscover her passions. A simple conversation sparked a life-changing moment, teaching her the power of reaching out and reconnecting with what she loves. CTA: Watch Joanne's story.

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"When I was going through languishing I felt I was completely alone. That this was an isolated case. I felt trapped. I knew there was something wrong but I just didn’t feel like it was deep enough to bring it up with anybody." Luke "I lost my spark and all my gusto was gone. I felt lost. I felt empty. I had no sense of purpose. I was just home looking after everybody." Enza "I was going through the motions but I didn’t feel anything. I didn’t have the language for how I was feeling. It wasn’t depression. I was still functioning but I just checked out for months. I fell into this period of listlessness. I couldn’t envision a Future because I didn’t know what I wanted that to look like, I was struggling." Joanne "I felt Languishing after my first child. I’ve heard of postnatal depression and knew someone who’d experienced it, so I knew it wasn’t that, but there was something going on with me. I found it difficult to be motivated...I could only get through the day and what I had to do with the kids. I couldn’t plan ahead. I lost my spark. I felt flat and like my purpose was gone. Tara My experience of Languishing was during lockdown. I felt lost, stuck and flat and then when we opened back up I still felt like I was still in that place for a long time." Thomas

What is Languishing?

Languishing is like being in a state of limbo where motivation is low, focus is fuzzy, and joy feels just out of reach. It’s a kind of mental limbo. You might feel aimless, like you’re treading water without making much progress. It is marked by feelings of emptiness and disconnection and a lack of engagement and fulfilment in life. Combined with a lack of focus, motivation, and joy, you might feel like you’re in a rut and tasks that once seemed engaging might feel like a chore. You might feel a sense of aimlessness or lack of purpose. Read more from our blog on Languishing here.

What Languishing Isn't

Languishing is not a mental health disorder, but it is a state of low wellbeing that affects your ability to engage in life and be productive.  Often referred to as the neglected middle child of mental health—you are not flourishing, but don’t necessarily meet the criteria of depression, anxiety or other mental health conditions. However, struggling to feel good isn’t “normal”.  In fact, over time, Languishing can become a serious risk to your mental health.  It is not about sucking it up.  It is about acknowledging it and taking steps to get back on track. Read more on our blog post on Languishing vs Depression.

What is the impact of it?

Poor Mental Wellbeing

19.9% of our sample (3,240 out of 16,446 people) were purely Languishing: they don’t have symptoms of distress but struggle with poor mental wellbeing.

Drivers

Our study shows that Languishing is largely driven by people who have poor social wellbeing, a lack of meaning and purpose, and don’t feel they can develop themselves.

Younger Adults

Languishing seems to be affecting younger adults more and more, particularly those in the "sandwich generation" (middle aged adults who care for both their parents and children)

Workplace

Languishing is strongly related to poor work engagement and burn-out, pointing to an important factor often not addressed in workplace wellbeing strategies.

Languishing at Work

Much of Be Well Co’s work centres around working with organisations to implement solutions to improve workplace wellbeing. One side of our work focuses on improving team performance and cohesion by working with staff and leaders on a range of workplace wellbeing topics. The other side focuses on targeting poor mental health, specifically Languishing, in the workplace. Why? Because no organisation is as productive and positive as it could be if 1 in 5 of their people don’t feel or function well or like have a sense of direction and purpose. Read ‘The Hidden Impact of Languishing at Work‘ here. For evidence-backed mental health workplace programs, visit our Be Well Plan, directly addressing the 20% of Australians identified as Languishing.

Why Care about Languishing?

Firstly, it is not a good space to be in now, and many people are suffering in silence. Languishing also comes with a bunch of negative flow-on effects.

We know that improving wellbeing protects people against developing further mental illness (up to a whopping 8x), yet we have overlooked it as a viable answer to help build mental health across the board.

Languishers take time off more often and are not as productive when they do show up, costing organisations and the economy in the process.

Languishing is indiscriminate and affects all ages and demographics.

How do we recognise it?

 

1. Time to Name it

Through creating awareness of the impact of low wellbeing (Languishing), we empower individuals and organisations to promote the actions and behaviours that improve the way their people feel and function, help them deal better with adversity and reduce their risks of mental illness down the track.

2. Take it Serious as its Own Form of Suffering

Mental health is more than mental illness: it is time we look beyond the idea of a mental health spectrum with mental illness and wellbeing being two opposites. Languishing affects people differently, however a dedicated approach that is tailored to one’s environmental drivers and symptoms of illness, can make a huge difference before things worsen. It starts with promoting wellbeing as a line of defence against developing more serious mental health symptoms.

We should not just protect against risk and respond to illness; we need promote wellbeing interventions. Targeting languishers needs to be the first cab off the rank.

"Wellbeing is not just the absence of mental illness; it encompasses a sense of flourishing that involves emotional, psychological, and social wellbeing." Professor Corey Keyes "Poor or low wellbeing is a problem most people can identify when they feel it, yet many struggle to name it. It is not depression. And it is not anxiety or stress.  But you know that you are definitely not doing well, nor are you functioning at your best’’ Dr Joep Van Agteren "Dont ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive." Brené Brown

What can I do about it?

Measure it

Understanding how poor wellbeing affects organisations and the community not only indicates the extent of potential problems, but at the same time can connect the dots with other indicators. There are a range of valid wellbeing measures out there to add to your workplace wellbeing or engagement survey or talk to us to see how we can help you strengthen you existing measurement approach.

Interventions

Change it

How to solve the problem of Languishing is central to what we do at Be Well Co. Evidence based interventions to solve the problem of languishing are out there, however translating this knowledge into something that is effective for different teams and organisations based on their unique circumstances, is something else. Check out our Services page for dedicated languishing solutions, including our Be Well Plan or get in touch to see how Languishing is impacting your organisation and what we can do together to solve it.

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