In 1982, I got dumped by a guy who told me, “You bore me.” I think that insult particularly stung because our generation is known for being monotony masters.
We latchkey kids came home to an empty house and settled into an afternoon watching TV and doing homework over a bowl of Lucky Charms. Picking out the little marshmallows was excitement enough to slog through the day. (Sidebar: this is one more example where technology ruins all the fun.)
Then again, it was in the 1980s that University of Oregon researchers developed the “Boredom Proneness Scale” to diagnose and treat people who struggle with this emotion. Negative impacts include attention deficits, drug and alcohol abuse, depression, anxiety, and reckless behavior.
As the pandemic stretches on, so does a global boredom epidemic. This has interesting — and as Wired called it, perilous — consequences.
Beast of boredom
While being bored might seem like an innocuous problem, science says that it can be a significant mental health hazard. In a survey conducted early on in the pandemic, 3,500 quarantined Italians ranked boredom as a top negative aspect, second only to “lack of freedom.”
Leading boredom researchers neuroscientist James Danckert and psychologist John D. Eastwood, authors of the book Out of My Skull: The Psychology of Boredom, characterize the condition this way:
Boredom occurs when we are caught in a desire conundrum, wanting to do something but not wanting to do anything, and when our mental capacities, our skills, and talents, lay idle—when we are mentally unoccupied.
The lack of meaning flattens our ability to summon the coping mechanisms necessary to combat a challenge like a pandemic. It’s a stressor that saps attention and motivation.
This is why philosophers from Seneca to Schopenhauer have long characterized boredom as an existential threat.
Beat the boredom blues
Tolstoy defined boredom as “a desire for desires.” This sage observation also points to the antidote for ennui — now’s the time to look for things that restore a sense of purpose.
While that might sound overwhelming when you’re stuck in the doldrums, it can be as simple as taking time to think. Of course, this can also be tough for us stimulation-seeking humans; a 2014 study showed that people would rather shock themselves than sit quietly doing nothing.
A sweet spot is a place of mellow activity like meditating, reading, or listening to music. Because science deems boredom a pain signal, self-care can help soothe and improve your life.
And moreover, bring you gently back from being bored out of your mind.
What Does Boredom Do to Us — And For Us? (New Yorker)
