GLOSSARY
L
L’appel du vide
Pronounced as “lapel-du-vi-deh,” in French or literally, “the call of the void” in English. Also known as “high place phenomenon”, whereby one has the urge or impulse to hurl oneself into dangerous situations. The “void” represents the danger, and (...)
Lagom
Pronounced, “law-gohm”. This Swedish term refers to moderation towards doing anything in life. It roughly translates to ‘not too much, not too little; just right.’ Lagom is a philosophy that encourages balance in all aspects of one’s life.
Languishing
The absence of mental health in life. Languishing is a state where an individual is not experiencing mental illness, but also having low levels of emotional, psychological, and social well-being.
Learned Helplessness
A psychological state whereby the subject develops a sense of powerlessness arising from repeated exposure to uncontrollable stressors or failed attempts to succeed.
Learned Optimism
The tendency to attribute unpleasant, bad events as being due to external, variable, and specific reasons.
Lebensmüde
Pronounced, “lee-ben-smuh-de”. A German term refers to the feeling of being tired of life. ‘Leben’ means ‘life’ and ‘müde’ means ‘tired’. Hence, it forms a compound noun that translates to ‘life tired’.
Leisure
Specific types of activities (e.g. hobbies) that people choose to freely engage in when they are free from obligations, and results in meaningful and/or satisfying experiences that contribute to their well-being.
Liget
Pronounced, “li-get”. A term used by the Ilongot tribe in the Philippines, to describe strong emotions associated with energy or force. Liget can be experienced negatively (i.e., cathartic acts of rage or violence) or positively (i.e., creative passion that inspired productive actions).
Litost
A Czech term that refers to the feeling of self-pity arising from humiliation and remorse towards one's own miserable self.
Locked-in Syndrome
A diagnosis where patients are conscious with intact cognition, but no motor (except blinking) & verbal abilities due to bilateral ventral pontine lesions.
Loneliness
An unpleasant experience that occurs when a person’s network of social relations is deficient in some important way, either quantitatively or qualitatively. This definition shares three important qualities. First, loneliness results from (...)
Longing
A feeling of wanting for someone or something. It is said to be a combination of love/happiness and depression/sadness. Also a synonym for yearning.
Love
Investment in the well-being of the other for his or her own sake.
Loving-Kindness Meditation
A form of meditation that involves directing one’s emotions toward warm and tender feelings in an open-hearted way. In the practice of LKM, individuals are first asked to focus on their heart region and (...)
Lust
One of three primary, discrete, and interrelated emotion systems in the brain for mating, reproduction, and parenting (the other two being attraction and attachment). Lust (Sex drive or the libido) is characterized by a craving for (...)