Dr. Bill Withers is the Lead Minister of the HOPE network of campuses and local sites. Prior to this position, he earned his Doctorate in Educational Leadership and Administration and has worked in higher education for over 20 years. Withers presents to companies and hosts leadership retreats. He has even been to campus to complete Grand View 2025 Fall Student Leadership Retreat, “What is Malaise?”
Withers likes to see what is happening in trends.
These trends are understanding what people think and why they think it. Through his work he has been able to get inside data and information from higher education, corporate settings and even church. All of this data and education have turned to his interest in malaise.
“It is best defined as a condition that lacks definition; a malaise is a feeling that generally speaking, they would describe this (as) the feeling of uneasiness,” Withers said.
Malaise occurs when nothing is necessarily wrong. Students could have the correct amount of sleep, have eaten, nothing relationship-wise is going wrong and nothing that stands out as a reason to not feel like themselves; students can feel out of it. This funk or uneasiness that students have is malaise.
“You can walk in and out of a malaise,” Withers said.
Malaise is uneasiness; but it is not fully depression or anxiety. It is that in between funk that you are unsure why you are not feeling like yourself, but you just are not yourself.
Alan Feirer is the Consultant, Trainer, Founder and President of Group Dynamic; A business that excels in leadership programs for organizations. They help develop teams that love working together or leaders who motivate others.
“This (malaise) is not unique,” Feirer said.
He has seen this in all generations.
“(The) good news is that you’re not alone, but the bad news is it doesn’t get better, ” Feirer said.
Feirer means that the good news is that college students are not alone. However, malaise does not only occur during college years, it continues throughout the life. Humans may not be alone; however, it does not feel like they are together.
“There’s a lot of loneliness right now, even when we’re surrounded by other people,” Feirer said.
Loneliness is on the rise along with malaise.
“These days since 2020, there’s just this cumulative weight that many of us carry around,” said Withers.
The COVID-19 pandemic occurred in 2020. But America had disruptions before, one of them being September 11.
“It (disruption) will also galvanize or bring people together,” Withers said.
He mentions that after the disruption of 9/11, people mourned but were motivated. Communities decided that they had to be better and the only way they did that was by uniting and helping and giving.
“The pandemic had the opposite effect,” Withers said.
“Statistically, there has been nothing but growth in anxiety, depressive disorders, and treatments and sadly enough, in people who self-medicate. Those numbers are all skyrocketing,” Withers said.
The 2020 disruption of human life had an effect, and Withers, the social scientist, noticed a trend and uproar in malaise, anxiety, depression and other mental disorders post-pandemic.
“We need as many mental health counselors, specialists and therapists as we can possibly get,” Withers said.
According to the book “The Anxious Generation,” by Jonathan Haidt, anxiety Prevalence in the U.S. has jumped about 4% for ages 18-25 from 2020 to 2022. Gen Z has the next generation beat by 7.62%
“I believe that this condition is more prevalent post-pandemic and is accelerated by social media, news, just, I think it’s a cultural thing right now,” Withers said.
Social media has been able to connect individuals around the world. But the world now has access to us 24/7. Feirer seems to agree with the social media and news access.
“I do think that we’re finding out that it does have to do with phones,” Feirer said.
He believes that the phones may have something to do with loneliness. It can be hard to make a main connection through a screen. Having true relational conversations can be hard.
“I think we biologically/psychologically need it,” Feirer said, referring to human interactoin.
Phones create a lack of physical interaction. We are not in a community or hanging out with people. Sometimes people are in a social setting with others and still choose their smartphones.
“How can we advance as a culture and society? By being intentional and serving others. Servant leadership is a philosophy,” Withers said.
Robert Greenleaf was the father of servant leadership. Greenleaf believed that there was a better way to treat others.
“I think we can be better together,” Withers said while summarizing Greenleaf’s philosophy.
It is going along in life and treating others with dignity, honor and respect. It is less about the self and more about the people around you.
“’I really do like… or would like a chance to help out other students,’ That’s a student leader posture,” Withers said.
Next is the promotion of servant leadership on campus.
“Remind people that they matter,” Feirer said.
The incorrect way would be just saying, ‘Hey, you matter.’ Digging deeper in connections is mandatory for servant leadership.
“People want to be seen, people want to be heard, and people want to know that they matter,” Feirer said.
Making individuals feel seen, heard, and that they matter brings a sense of belonging for both parties.
“We have to have really good relationships in networking with people and helping them, 50:00” Withers said.
Networking can be intimidating during these times. It can be scary to talk to others. Especially if they seem like they do not want to be ‘bothered’ or seem a little socially anxious.
“Be curious and just learn a little bit but also be willing to share,” Feirer said.
Relationships are a two-way street. Feirer encourages student leaders to be curious about others and to be prepared to open up about themselves. He also wants to leave student leaders some tips.
“I think you gently force those people in the spending a little bit of low stakes, low impact, quantity time not necessarily quality time. You don’t got to do anything deep. You don’t have to have a deep conversation, ” Feirer said.
He also added, “Communicate with, talk to, strangers of weak ties.”
Wither wanted to leave some advice for students as well.
“If they’re curious about any of it, get after it. The more you can learn around any of those topics, the more you can expose yourself to being more caring and empathetic and respectful and loving of others. Just take the deep dive, ” Withers said.
He also wanted to reach out to those who experience malaise.
“If you do bump into things that don’t make sense or you do have a sense of malaise, for heaven’s sake, get help. The university staffs people exactly for that thing. So, it’s okay for me to go and say, ‘I’m a little bit off.’ To me, that’s a sign of strength, not weakness. And if you can navigate that, you can navigate your first job, your relationships, your families, all those kind of things,” Withers said.
Overall, it is okay to not be doing okay. Everyone experiences malaise. Speaking up is the most important part. Leaders, young or mature, have the ability to create a welcoming and safe environment. This can be done by servant leadership – the approach that focuses on others before self. By making others feel seen, heard and valued, student leaders can foster connection and belonging,
Through this, they can combat malaise with meaning.