Languishing

How to Feel Alive Again in a World That Wears Us Down

By: Corey Keyes

Narrated by: Landon Woodson

Length: 8 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

“With his pioneering research, Corey Keyes put languishing on the map. In this powerful book, he brings it to life. Get ready to rethink your understanding of mental health, update your views on happiness, and come closer to realizing your potential.”—Adam Grant, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Hidden Potential

If you’re muddling through the day in a fog, often forgetting why you walked into a room . . .

If you feel emotionally flattened, lacking the energy to socialize or feel joy in the small things . . .

If you feel an inner void—like something is missing, but you aren’t sure what . . .

Then this book is for you.

Languishing—the state of mental weariness that erodes our self-esteem, motivation, and sense of meaning—can be easy to brush off as the new normal, especially since indifference is one of its symptoms. It is not a synonym for depression and its attendant state of prolonged sadness. Languishers are more likely to feel out of control of their lives, uncertain about what they want from the future, and paralyzed when faced with decisions. Left unchecked, languishing not only impedes our daily functioning but is a gateway to serious mental illness and early mortality.

Emory University sociologist Corey Keyes has spent his career studying the causes and costs of languishing—the neglected middle child of mental health. Now Keyes has written the first definitive book on the subject, examining the ripple effect of languishing on our lives before deftly diagnosing the larger forces behind its rise: the false promises of the self-help industrial complex, a global moment of intense fear and loss, and a failing healthcare system focused on treating rather than preventing illness.

Ultimately, Keyes presents a counterintuitive approach to breaking the cycles keeping us stuck and finding a path to true flourishing. Unlike self-improvement systems offering quick-fix mood boosts, his framework focuses on functioning well: taking simple but powerful steps to hold our emotions loosely, becoming more accepting of ourselves and others, and carving out daily moments for the activities that create cycles of meaning, connection, and personal growth.

Languishing is a must-hear for anyone tempted to downplay feelings of demotivation and emptiness as they struggle to haul themselves through the day, and for those eager to build a higher tolerance for adversity and the pressures of modern life. We can expand our vocabulary for describing our inner experiences and deepest needs—and, with it, our potential to flourish.

*Includes a downloadable PDF of charts, graphs, and diagrams from the book

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2024 Corey Keyes (P)2024 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“With his pioneering research, Corey Keyes put languishing on the map. In this powerful book, he brings it to life. Get ready to rethink your understanding of mental health, update your views on happiness, and come closer to realizing your potential.”—Adam Grant, author of Hidden Potential

“With compassion, clarity, and raw honesty, Keyes explains the languishing-to-flourishing continuum, and how to break out of the ruts that keep us demoralized and worn down, improve our daily functioning, and find a deeply rooted sense of well-being. If you feel like you’re running on empty, this book is for you.”—Angela Duckworth, author of Grit

“Languishing combines decades of Keyes’s own scientific research with powerful personal stories to offer an antidote to the feelings of emptiness and nihilism that plague modern humans. Love. Learn. Work. Pray. Play. Five ingredients that have the potential to transform a life. This book will change the way you think about pain and pleasure, our innate psychological needs and the behaviors that throw us off balance, and the path to holistic well-being in an overstimulating, overwhelming world.”—Anna Lembke, MD, author of Dopamine Nation

An eye-opening discourse on Mental Health

This was exactly the book I needed to help me through a long period of feeling empty and hopeless. I’ve been in therapy for a long time and we focus on harm reduction but I’ve never had anyone tell me I could be flourishing, I never even considered it a possibility. This book gives me not only hope for the future but also an action plan. I’m so grateful to the author and I plan to share this book with friends and family.

Fantastic life-changing book

This book was the perfect balance of self help, information, person reference, and sociology.

I wasn't expecting this book to be so good and help me personally.

I would recommend this book to everyone.

Understanding, calm delivery.

Relatable content with a positive message. Not overly demanding or strident or cheery. Just helpful.

Some worthwhile ideas.

The book is focused on youth, say 5 to 25 years old, the Covid shutdown looms large in the research data, as do college students. My assumption is that results are somewhat skewed. But maybe the data are not as important as the ideas?

I hear the word languishing, and visualize two versions: Victorian women who are bored to death, and Southern women on a fainting couch, both bored and crazy, like confined animals. That is not THIS book.

At 76 the most useful part was the last chapter, I have been "languishing" for a long time. Lost my massage studio in the Great Recession, did a few outcalls for about 5 years, then everything stopped, my health declined, and I could not find my footing again. Or, as the authors says, I lost my purpose, can't figure out why I'm still here.

It remains to be seen what the answer might be, but I have decided to start crocheting sleepy bears (amagurimi) for the Ukrainian children, double my support for beaver recovery in the US,, and stop watching the news. (purpose)I only have one screen, my smart phone, but I'm terribly addicted - dopamine is a powerful thing. Quitting will free up a number of hours daily (self care) If I follow through, I think my life will change for the better: no fainting couch in my living space!

Wonderful and emotionally healing message

I wish it had pictures of the charts. I bought the book. I will be studying.

Useful and research based

Unlike so many books in the “self-help” genre, this author has done the research on which his practical suggestions are based. The first half of the book lays out the case for why we need to focus on more than just not being mentally ill. The author also weaves in some of his own stories along with stories from people he’s encountered. It gives the book a bit of a memoir feel at times. But the main point is that the absence of mental illness does not mean the presence of mental health. The second half of the book provides practical suggestions on how we can all incorporate steps into our lives that will help us move beyond languishing toward flourishing. Is it easy? No. No quick fixes here. But if you are a person who has a strong desire for a meaningful life, you will get a lot out of this book. It’s about moving beyond happiness, which is ephemeral. And toward flourishing, which is lasting. The narrator was very effective also.

Everyone should give this a listen

This is one of those books that has the potential to change lives. A lack of mental illness is not the presence of mental health. For anyone struggling to find balance, meaning, or connection to their place in the world, this book offers a way to lead a flourishing life.

I light in the darkness

This has been my favorite book that I’ve read in years. It has given me vocabulary to understand and describe the emotions I’ve had in the last few years and has given hopeful actionable things I can do to increase my mental health. I cannot recommend it enough.