“Boredom always precedes a period of great creativity.” – Robert M. Pirsig

Everyone hates to be bored, or so it seems.  We will do anything, try anything, to escape the feelings of boredom.  But what if the escape hatch of boredom is actually counterproductive and boredom has some redeeming value? 

What if the cell phone and social media are more the enemy and not the rescuer from our lost interest.  Modern techno living is designed to constantly escape boredom.  It is a displacement strategy designed to come to the aid of our discomfort and ennui.  Does boredom provide any potential opportunities to expand the quality of human experience?

When texting a friend or going online to escape boredom are we losing anything?  We know that technology can alleviate boredom by being a distraction.  Distracted to something new will be more interesting and less uncomfortable than boredom. 

The Default Mode Network

Harvard professor Arthur C. Brooks reports that we have a Default Mode Network in our brain that when we are bored makes us feel uncomfortable ⁽¹⁾.  These feelings of discomfort drive us to look for ways out of our boredom. 

However, as Professor Brooks points out, many of the existential questions we deal with in life are really confronting us in our Default Mode when we are bored.  Questions like who am I? What is my purpose? What is meaningful to me?  These questions may be uncomfortable and difficult but they have superordinate status.

These questions are uncomfortable but they do appear to be more salient than answering the latest tweet or text.  By looking for our usual escape route from boredom are we missing out on our important existential reflections? 

Could these boredom avoidance patterns be contributing to many of the psychological issues that people are facing today?  Is running away from boredom a form of self-sabotage affecting our personal growth and mental wellness?

Depression is Up

“In 2019, there were 290,185,742 incidence cases of depression globally, representing an increase of 59.28% over 1990” ⁽²⁾.  The prediction for the future is that depression rates will continue to rise.  One explanation for this increase can be attributed to the growing influence of technology on modern living. 

When we use technology to escape our boredom does this really work?  Screens are not only addictive they negate much of our former social interaction experiences.  Technology may be promoting more isolated behaviour and we know that isolation may lead to more episodes of depression.  

Anxiety is Up

Anxiety disorders have increased by 50% from 1990-2019 ⁽³⁾.  Again, we are looking at the technological growth years.  Obvious reasons surface when we consider online bullying, misinformation, disinformation, and the increasing number of scams affecting public safety online. 

The selfie culture puts more pressure on physical appearance and social connection.  Social media is a playground for anonymity, which adds to the unknown quality of connecting online.  We know that the unknown is a primary catalyst to anxiety. 

“Online communities are an expression of loneliness.” – Joanne Harris

Loneliness is Up

In the Harvard Business Review, researchers reported various impacts of loneliness on psychological and physical health, and one’s longevity (June 29, 2017). Their findings are shocking. They report obesity was found to reduce longevity by 20%, drinking 30%, smoking 50%, and loneliness by 70%.

Also reported is that loneliness increases one’s chance of stroke and coronary heart disease (the leading cause of death in developed countries) by 30%. The risk of premature death associated with social isolation and loneliness is similar to the risk of premature death associated with well-known risk factors such as obesity, based on a meta-analysis of research in Europe, North America, Asia and Australia ⁽⁴⁾.

When the internet is used as a way-station on the route to enhancing existing relationships and forging new social connections it is a useful tool for reducing loneliness. But when social technologies are used to escape the social world and withdraw from the social anxiety associated with interaction, feelings of loneliness escalate. Loneliness is also a determinant of how people interact within the digital world. Lonely people express a preference for using the internet for social interaction and are therefore more likely to use the internet in a way that displaces time spent offline (i.e. face-to-face and social activities) ⁽⁵⁾.

“The decisions you make are a choice of values that reflect your life in every way.” – Alice Waters

The Value of Facing Our Boredom       

Potentially, we could benefit from staying in our boredom more often.  The availability to escape in technology is making this reflection time more problematic.  Escapism, although tempting, is not usually the answer to most uncomfortable situations. 

Our movement from experiencing boredom may actually be in the wrong direction.  Maybe we would be better off staying in our boredom as a discovery process and a growth process.  Growth is usually associated with some discomfort. 

The weightlifter must lift enough weight in order to cause muscle tissue to become damaged so that it may heal and become stronger. The runner piles on the miles enduring soreness the next day or two for the same reasons. Stress and discomfort enable gains in speed, strength, and endurance.

Mental and emotional gains are similar in terms of discomfort promoting growth. Mental and emotional challenges stretch one’s potential to overcome the obstacles of life. Although difficult, our achievements from our struggles will build self-confidence and self-efficacy.

Aristotle recognised the importance of the potential of movement in his philosophy of “the actuality of potentiality".   He suggested that by moving to realize one's potential you are progressing from a state of being "less interesting" (in potential) to a state of being "more interesting" (in actuality).   This equates to arriving at what we really can be, not just our potential but our reality. 

 ^References

^{1-Brooks, A.C. (2025).  You Need to be Bored.  YouTube.}  

^{2-Y. Zhang, X. Jia, Y. Yang, N. Sun, S. Shi, W. Wang (2024). Change in the global burden of depression from 1990-2019 and its prediction for 2030.  Journal of Psychiatric Research Volume 178, October 2024, Pages 16-22.}

^{3-X. Yang, Y. Fang, H. Chen, T. Zhang, X. Yin, J. Man, L. Yang, M. Lu (2024). Global, regional and national burden of anxiety disorders from 1990 to 2019: results from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019. Journal of Psychiatric Research Volume 178, October 2024, Pages 16-22.}

^{4-Nowland, R., Necka, E.A., Cacioppo, J.T. (2018). Loneliness and social internet use: Pathways to reconnection in a digital world? Perspectives on Psychological Science, 13(1), pp. 70-87.}

^{5-Holt-Lunstad J, Smith T, Baker M, Harris T & Stephenson D 2015. Loneliness and Social Isolation as Risk Factors for Mortality: A Meta-Analytic Review. Perspectives on Psychological Science 10:227–37.}