Felt somewhat joyless and aimless? The meaning of Languishing

The New York Times published a recent article about ‘Languishing’ and delves into this common feeling everyone has experienced during the pandemic. Languishing is a sense of stagnation and emptiness. It feels as if you are muddling through your days, looking at your life through a foggy windshield and it might be the dominant emotion of 2021.

In the early, uncertain days of the pandemic, its likely that your brain’s threat detection system – called the amygdala, was on high alert for fight-or-flight. You probably developed routines that eased your sense of dread, but the pandemic has dragged on, and the acute state of anguish has given way to a chronic condition of languish.

We think of 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. It dulls your motivation, disrupts your ability to focus, and triples the odds that you will cut back on work. It appears to be more common than major depression and in some ways be a bigger risk factor for mental illness.

Focussing on goals / looking for a career change 

The pandemic may have uncovered or intensified all the ways you were already dissatisfied at work. Maybe you feel unappreciated or undervalued at your company. It is important to think carefully about why you might feel like you want a career change during this time. We understand that making a career change during the pandemic is a daunting idea.

Here at Sacco Mann, our consultants have in-depth knowledge of the current job market across different sectors and the UK. If you do decide making a career change is something you would like to pursue, we guide you not only through a tailor-made and well tested recruitment process, but also beyond it.

We don’t move people from one job to the next, instead we only move people when it matters to you. You can contact us at any time, no matter what your query.

Leeds office: 0113 245 3338

Manchester Office: 0161 831 6890