The Real Health Podcast: The scientific solutions to burnout with Professor Corey Keyes

What is Languishing? When did it become a global phenomenon? And how can we fight back against this global burnout?

Professor Emeritus at Emory University, sociologist Dr Corey Keyes, and author of ‘Languishing: How to Feel Alive Again in a World That Wears Us Down’ joined me on the Real Health podcast this week to speak about Languishing.

First, I asked Professor Keyes for a definition of Languishing. He said it is, “like a numb, empty, stuck or stagnant feeling. Those seem to be the most common descriptors for it. So, it's a place where you don't feel sad, you don't feel happy, you just feel more or less numb or nothing at all.”

Professor Keyes weaves his own experiences into the book and describes his own experience of Languishing.

“At the age of 12, I was finally adopted by my grandparents and taken out of a very horrible situation where I was not flourishing, where I was languishing severely. And suddenly there I was in this peaceful, loving home,” he said.

Keyes pointed out that it’s not one section of society but all backgrounds that are affected; “It's not just people who are living with less education, lower incomes, who are feeling this. These are people at the highest levels of education, practicing professions, where they should feel like their life has purpose and meaning. But the conditions under which they're working right now, they're describing it as feeling like they're dying inside. And we call that demoralization.”

You can listen to the full episode on Independent.ie or wherever you get your podcasts.