There’s a name for the blah you’re feeling

145: On the neglected middle child of mental health

Early in the pandemic, Daphne Lee tweeted a term that captured the attention of the internet.

Daphne K. Lee @daphnekylee

Learned a very relatable term today: “報復性熬夜” (revenge bedtime procrastination), a phenomenon in which people who don’t have much control over their daytime life refuse to sleep early in order to regain some sense of freedom during late night hours.

I could certainly relate to late-night scrolling despite my better judgment, but I had never associated it with a desire for control. Psychologist Adam Grant had a different interpretation, though. To him, late-night scrolling isn’t so much about control as it is an act of quiet defiance against the dominant emotion of 2021: languishing.

Languishing, as Grant defines it, is the void between depression and flourishing—the absence of well-being. It’s that ambiguous dullness that has hung over the majority of the past year. Similar to the most popular ABC article of all time, The Discomfort You’re Feeling is Grief, the piece gives shape to something we all know but haven’t yet had the language to fully articulate.

When you finish the article, don’t be surprised if you, as I did, blurt out “Oh, so that’s what it’s called.” It’ll make you feel seen.

Here’s the piece: There’s a Name for the Blah You’re Feeling: It’s Called Languishing

Warmly,
Simo

P.S. The song of the week is a soulful Americana song with a timeless sound. The full playlist is here.