Why we should all be acting on “Languishing”

Have you ever had a stage of your life that feels as if you are lost and unable to draw wellbeing? It may or may not have been diagnosed as a mental health issue, but it doesn’t change how hard this period was for you.

One of my concerns to date in mental health discourse has been that mental distress only becomes legitimate and validated where it is a diagnosable conditions. Taking that approach has led to an over-reliance on the mental health system to address distress. As the National Mental Health Commission found in the 2023 National Report Card, there is ‘‘little data available on the impact and efficacy of the billions invested by governments’. I have broad and ongoing questions about the effectiveness of the system for people who have psychiatric labels, and those who don’t.

That’s why I was curious when Dr Matthew Iasiello sent me a report that he was co-author on Languishing: The Impact on Australia. Languishing is a hidden experience that many Australians may face, but might not attract a mental health diagnosis. Carving out this phenomena as something empirical – studied and tested – Matthew and his peers don’t categorise languishing as being a mental health diagnosis, but ‘rather it describes a feeling of being dissatisfied with our life, who we are, and where our life is headed’.

Having reflected that many of the mental health systems’ failures centre on this failure to support someone’s self-defined good life, I think this report is something I and we should learn more about.

So Matthew, tell us how this report came about?

For years, our work in well-being promotion has shown that, despite global efforts to foster flourishing, it’s often viewed as a “nice-to-have” rather than a necessity. To shift this perspective, we focused our report on languishing—the absence of flourishing. By highlighting the tangible costs of languishing across mental health systems, workplaces, and communities, we aim to inspire practitioners, policymakers, and researchers to prioritize well-being as a critical issue.

So can you make clear what languishing is and how it may be differently categorised from ‘mental illness’ or a psychiatric diagnosis?

Languishing is a state of dissatisfaction with one’s current life or its direction, marked by feelings of stagnation, indifference, and a lack of purpose or motivation. Often called the “neglected middle child” of mental health, it sits between mental illness and flourishing, receiving less attention than either. Unlike depression, which involves persistent sadness, hopelessness, and severe functional impairment, languishing is characterized by a subtler sense of emotional flatness, low energy, and disconnection. While there’s some overlap with depression, languishing uniquely involves symptoms like reduced autonomy, diminished enjoyment, a lack of belonging, low purpose, poor self-acceptance, and limited achievement—none of which are typically emphasized in mental illness diagnoses.

What are the rates of languishing in Australia based on your data?

Our data, drawn from a sample of 16,000 Australians, indicates that approximately 20% of the population experiences low levels of well-being or languishing without symptoms of anxiety, depression, or stress. This is significant, as this group is 4 to 8 times more likely to develop a mental illness in the future. They often go unnoticed by mental health services, which tend to focus on diagnosing clinical symptoms these individuals don’t report.

Are there findings specific to young people that emerged from this report?

Our findings revealed that languishing is most prevalent among young people, reflecting a global trend. Traditionally, well-being across age groups forms a U-shaped curve, with higher happiness in youth, a dip in middle age, and a rise in older age. However, our data—and similar studies worldwide—show a shift. The curve now resembles a hockey stick, with low well-being in youth, even lower levels in middle age, and a rise in older age.

I noticed that some of the biggest reported drivers of languishing were the beliefs about the society and whether it was a good place/getting better for all and whether it made sense to people. What do you make of those findings?

Using the well-established Mental Health Continuum Short Form, which has been administered globally hundreds of thousands of times, we find that social well-being is consistently low—a pattern our data reinforces. What stood out was the stark contrast between languishers and flourishers. About 30% of languishers reported never viewing society as a good place, and 20% felt that society’s workings rarely make sense or that they belong to a community. These findings resonate with the current sense of societal fragmentation and confusion, underscoring how perceptions of society profoundly influence well-being.

What is some of the evidence on what individuals who are languishing can do?

There’s robust evidence on improving mental well-being, as outlined in our Beyond Blue report, A Guide to What Works for Mental Well-Being. It highlights eight highly effective approaches, including social prescribing, physical activity, art interventions, acceptance and commitment therapy, mindfulness, and positive psychology interventions. The full report is available at: https://www.bewellco.io/wellbeing-interventions-guide-what-works-mental-wellbeing/.

What is some of the evidence on what government can do?

While the evidence here is less definitive, it’s no less critical. Governments can bolster mental health by removing barriers to well-being, such as fostering vibrant communities, promoting economic security, and, as economist Dr. Kelsey O’Connor’s research suggests, ensuring robust social safety nets.

Where can people go who want to find out more?

To learn more about our work, visit www.bewellco.io or tune into my podcast, Researching Happy, where we explore well-being promotion and research. You can even listen to the episode featuring you, where we discussed human rights, mental health, and your inspiring advocacy work.