Flourishing vs. Languishing: What Positive Mental Health Is and How to Develop It

In 2021, organizational psychologist Adam Grant wrote a widely-shared piece about "languishing" — the sense of stagnation and emptiness he observed becoming prevalent during the COVID-19 pandemic. It resonated with millions who recognized a state they'd been unable to name.

Languishing wasn't new — it had been precisely defined and studied by psychologist Corey Keyes since 2002. What the pandemic did was make visible a condition that had always been present but rarely recognized: the absence of positive mental health in people who weren't technically mentally ill.

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Flourishing

Keyes' Two Continua Model establishes that mental health and mental illness are independent dimensions.^[1] On the mental health dimension, flourishing is the state of complete mental health — high levels of both hedonic wellbeing (positive emotions, life satisfaction) and eudaimonic wellbeing (purpose, growth, self-acceptance, positive relations, autonomy, social contribution).

To be classified as Flourishing, a person must experience at high frequency at least one of three hedonic indicators (happiness, interest in life, satisfaction with life) and six of eleven positive functioning indicators (engagement, coherent social world, social acceptance, social actualization, social contribution, social integration, self-acceptance, personal growth, purpose in life, environmental mastery, autonomy).

Research describes flourishing people as feeling "alive," "full," and genuinely engaged. They experience difficulty — everyone does — but navigate it from a position of genuine psychological and social resource.

Between the extremes sits moderate mental health — the most common state for most people, neither flourishing nor languishing but functioning reasonably well with some positive experience and some difficulty.

It's not a problem to be fixed but a normal state from which flourishing is possible through deliberate development.

Languishing

Languishing is the absence of positive mental health — low hedonic wellbeing and positive functioning, without necessarily having diagnosable mental illness.

It's characterized by emotional flatness and emptiness (life feels hollow), lack of engagement (activities feel meaningless), a sense of stagnation, and absence of the sense that life has direction.

Keyes' research found languishing individuals had levels of work dysfunction, emotional limitation, and healthcare utilization comparable to those with clinical depression, despite not meeting diagnostic criteria — a finding that made languishing a significant public health concern in its own right.^[1]

It's important not to pathologize languishing as a disorder — it's not a clinical diagnosis. But it's a meaningful state that significantly reduces quality of life and responds to deliberate development of positive mental health.

Seligman's PERMA Model: Five Elements

Martin Seligman's PERMA model provides the most widely used framework for understanding and developing flourishing.^[2]

P — Positive Emotions: More than happiness or pleasure — joy, gratitude, serenity, interest, hope, pride.

Barbara Fredrickson's Broaden-and-Build Theory established these actively expand cognitive and behavioral repertoires and build lasting resources.^[3] Develop it through gratitude practices, savoring, acts of kindness, and identifying and using personal strengths daily.

E — Engagement: Deep absorption — what Csikszentmihalyi called flow, occurring when skill level and challenge level are well-matched. Develop it by identifying your signature strengths and finding regular ways to apply them, and reducing multitasking that prevents the depth flow requires.

R — Relationships: Warm, genuinely connected relationships are among the strongest and most consistent predictors of wellbeing, health, and longevity.

The Harvard Study of Adult Development, the longest-running longitudinal study of adult life at over 80 years, found relationship quality was the single strongest predictor of life satisfaction and physical health in older age.

Develop it by prioritizing depth over breadth and investing in existing relationships through active listening and genuine disclosure.

M — Meaning: Belonging to and serving something larger than yourself. Viktor Frankl observed that people could maintain meaning even in conditions of extreme suffering, and that meaning mattered more to survival than the absence of suffering.

Develop it by clarifying your values and connecting daily activities to larger purposes.

A — Accomplishment: Pursuing and achieving goals for intrinsic reasons — contributing to wellbeing even when it doesn't produce pleasure. Develop it by setting achievable-but-challenging goals and registering achievements rather than immediately moving to the next.

From Languishing to Flourishing: What the Research Suggests

The path from languishing to flourishing isn't primarily about resolving depression, though if depression is present, that's the necessary starting point. It's about actively building the positive dimensions that constitute flourishing.

Research on positive psychology interventions documents meaningful, lasting improvements in wellbeing, not just temporary positive feelings.

A meta-analysis of 39 randomized controlled trials found significant positive effects on wellbeing and depression, sustained at follow-up.^[5] A large validation study involving over 39,000 participants confirmed the five PERMA elements together correlate strongly with life satisfaction.^[4] The most effective individual practices: gratitude journaling, acts of kindness, strengths use, savoring, meaning-making, and social investment.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Am I languishing?

Common signs: life feeling flat or hollow without clear reason, difficulty caring about things you used to, absence of enthusiasm, a sense of drifting or stagnation, and difficulty identifying what you actually want or value.

Languishing isn't dramatic — it's often a quiet erosion of aliveness and engagement.

How long does it take to move from languishing to flourishing?

Research on positive psychology interventions suggests meaningful improvements within weeks of consistent practice (8–12 weeks is a common window in trials).

But flourishing isn't a destination reached once — it requires ongoing attention, particularly through relationships, meaningful activity, and regular cultivation of positive emotion.

Can I flourish while also struggling with depression or anxiety?

Somewhat — mental health and mental illness are partially independent, and positive interventions can help even people with clinical conditions develop greater positive functioning. However, if depression or anxiety is severe, addressing those conditions directly is typically the priority first.

Is PERMA the same as happiness?

No. PERMA is broader — it includes engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishment alongside positive emotions, and these are motivationally and experientially distinct from moment-to-moment happiness.

A life that scores well on all five dimensions is richer than one that maximizes positive emotion alone.