machado: there's a new blah in town and it's called malaise

malaise. it’s  defined by merriam-webster  as an”indefinite feeling of lack of health often indicative of or accompanying the onset of illness” and “a vague sense of mental or moral ill-being.”  vocabulary.com  describes malaise as “feeling blue,” “a slump,” and when “you’re not feeling your best — either mentally or physically.”

the first type of malaise,  according to a.d.a.m. health , can be brought on various health conditions, including lyme disease, tuberculosis, congestive heart failure, diabetes and anemia. the second type is sometimes linked to anxiety and depression, and also often referred to as burnout or mental exhaustion.

just ask two-time american league all-star and gold glove award-winning outfielder joey gallo about the “ offensive malaise ” affecting the new york yankees. or scottish football club aberdeen’s goalkeeper joe lewis, who, while battling “ aberdeen malaise ,” is still sad about getting booed off the pitch by fans chanting, ‘you’re not fit to wear the shirt.” and then there’s manchester united’s “ united malaise, ” whose recent field moves against opposing team leicester city were compared to a “slowly deflating balloon.”

masculinity malaise

the united states is also in the throes of “ masculinity malaise ” — but don’t worry, they have found a solution with  testicle tanning . and while doldrums sparked by politics are nothing new, with “election malaise” weighing heavy on  australians  and the  french  (a dulling of sensation they refer to as  seum),   china ,  rome  and  pakistan  have all gone on record for grappling with “ economic malaise .”

even my parents’ home country of guyana has been unable to escape the scourge of this annoyingly vague uncomfortable feeling with widespread “ migration malaise ” as rising numbers of guyanese leave for the u.s., canada and the u.k.

other more surprising manifestations of down-in-the-dumps doldrums have been reported in the world of famous wizard-boy harry potter with a recent review calling the film “fantastic beasts: the secrets of dumbledore”  mangy malaise . and then there’s toyota’s “malaise car” (a term used to describe cars with poor performance) won by its new gr corolla , and  netflix’s”subscriber malaise. ”

have we lost our ability to care?

it’s almost like the “numb fatigue” that  angela neal-barnett , a psychology professor at kent state university, talks about in an interview with vox. she discusses the effect of months of anxiety caused by the pandemic and politics: “you don’t want to do anything.”

you just don’t want to do anything

and there’s also the more serious task of looking inward and identifying the source of your malaise.  dr. marcia sirota writes in medium  that it’s important to tune into our emotions — “take our emotional temperature” — so we can deal with our malaise, as opposed to ignoring it. in fact, focusing on self-care and emotional well-being, she says, can help us let go of some of the heaviness. basically,  being kind to yourself  — getting lots of good sleep, eating well, exercising and lowering your stress as best you can — is a good first step to climbing out of the depths of doldrums. and, of course, seeking professional help if you find that malaise is significantly interfering in your daily life.

lisa machado is the executive producer of healthing. she can be reached at  lmachado@postmedia.com . this story originally appeared in the healthing weekender. subscribe here.

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machado: there's a new blah in town and it's called malaise

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