What is it about?
The concept of "languishing" as a middle point between flourishing and depression has been widely discussed in recent years, especially during the pandemic. Languishing is defined as a lack of well-being and feelings of un-motivation. The revelation of "languishing" came as a relief to many people as it provided a name to the strange feeling they were experiencing, but the existing evidence and theory in psychology do not validate this "flourishing -> languishing -> depression" model of mental health. This article discusses why languishing is not the middle child of mental health, and also explains what it actually is.
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Why is it important?
It is important to note that the existing evidence and theory in psychology do not validate the "flourishing -> languishing -> depression" model of mental health, which can be misleading. There have been not much rebuttal of this claim though. This article presents the two continua model of mental health and mental illness, which is an evidence-backed theory which provides a better understanding of both mental health and mental illness.
Perspectives
It is important that all of us be aware of important concepts like mental health, which directly affect the way our lives are lived. Hence an attempt to present the actual evidence against a much popularised misconception about mental health.
Dr Chinchu C
Association for Social Change Evolution and Transformation
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: No, Languishing is not the ‘Middle Child’ of Mental Health, October 2022, Center for Open Science,
DOI: 10.31219/osf.io/vnj7x.
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