We’ve both noticed a phenomenon. We’re not sure when it started but it might be connected with Covid, lockdown and isolation, the return to normality, and the fact that today’s normality is different from the normality of five years ago.
The phenomenon even has a name amongst mental health experts. Apparently a lot of people are languishing. They’re not happy, but they’re not unhappy. They are lacking both feelings, resulting in a state of languishing. There isn’t much joy in their lives but there isn’t much sadness either.
But languishing isn’t a harmless state of neutrality. In fact, it can have quite a negative impact on mental health. Without the normal highs and lows, people become listless and uninterested in the world around them. They abandon hobbies. They abandon friends. Sometimes they abandon work.
None of this is good.
And then we saw this picture which seems to perfectly sum up languishing.
