What is Meh - and can we do anything about it?

Monday, 22 November 2021

Meh.

November is my favourite month of the year.  There’s the annual eternal struggle with our retail manager Hay and  the shop staff about when to start playing Christmas carols in store.  There’s the Christmas stock, thoughtful gifts presented beautifully to tempt people as they wait for their scripts, scripts that they need early due to the fact that our lovely customers have a summer of travel, family and eating planned - plans that I love to hear about.  Im excited to share my plans too - the customer and I can’t stop smiling as we think about the coming weeks.

This year?  This year aint it chief.  The Smiles are still there of course, but covered by masks. The banter is still there, but the answer to the  “how are you going?” question, is always…   “Meh.”

What is this feeling of Meh that we are collectively feeling?  In most cases its not depression - there’s no feeling of hopelessness Anxiety? Maybe - anxiety can be defined as “A feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease about something with an uncertain outcome.” Anxiety is definitely on the rise for sure.  My favourite definition for this collective “Meh” though is  - Languishing .  

Languishing is a sense of stagnation and emptiness. It feels as if you’re muddling through your days, looking at your life through a foggy windshield.  Some of you maybe wondering ‘…do we need to label everything?”  Well, no we don’t - but its important to know that if you feel like this,  that:   a)  you are not alone. And b) Its ok to feel like this.  Once we label something, we are also able to to take some positive action about it.

If Flourishing is the peak of mental health, and Depression is its valley - then Languishing is the awkward middle child. What can you do to nudge the ledger  from Languishing closer  to flourishing?  Prof Adam Grant, a professor of Organisational psychology of the University of Pennsylvania suggests 3 things -

1) get in a state of flow - when you are concentrating on something you enjoy so much you lose the sense of time.

2) Give yourself some uninterrupted time.

 3) focus on a small goal - get small wins.

What am I doing to work on me?  Im growing tomatoes. I tend to my little glasshouse every morning and see its progress daily.  Watching the little plant grow, little flowers blooming and transforming into tomatoes is absurdly rewarding.  What I’ve found is that its interesting , worthwhile and promotes great conversations - a little nudge towards rediscovering some enthusiasm and energy that we are missing of late.

Please be in touch if anything from the above interests you, or if you want to share what you’re focusing on - we would love to hear them!  Also if you need  help finding someone to talk to, please reach out to us.  Being a community Pharmacist - we are seeing worrying health trends with Mental Health - be kind and patient to yourself and each other, don’t get too angry about things - breathe deep and walk it out - take care.

Andrew and the team at the Roslyn Pharmacy