1 00:00:01,840 --> 00:00:07,720 Speaker 1: Welcome to brainsty a production of iHeartRadio, Hey brain Stuff. 2 00:00:07,760 --> 00:00:13,240 Speaker 1: Lauren vogelbam here ever felt bored to tears? Maybe it 3 00:00:13,400 --> 00:00:17,000 Speaker 1: was yesterday flipping through a thousand streaming options and not 4 00:00:17,120 --> 00:00:20,680 Speaker 1: liking any of them. Or maybe it's just the daily 5 00:00:20,760 --> 00:00:25,960 Speaker 1: grind of work, dinner, and chores that never seems to change. 6 00:00:26,079 --> 00:00:30,639 Speaker 1: Boredom is sort of an emotional oxymoron. Your mind itches 7 00:00:30,720 --> 00:00:34,600 Speaker 1: for something to do, but your body doesn't respond. What 8 00:00:34,800 --> 00:00:38,839 Speaker 1: happens when that flatlined feeling doesn't go away? Could you 9 00:00:38,880 --> 00:00:44,760 Speaker 1: really die of boredom? We sometimes call chronic boredom on Wei, 10 00:00:45,440 --> 00:00:50,840 Speaker 1: characterized by listlessness, discontent, and sadness, a kind of mental weariness. 11 00:00:52,120 --> 00:00:54,960 Speaker 1: On Wei is a French word that English speakers adopted 12 00:00:54,960 --> 00:00:57,840 Speaker 1: around the sixteen to seventeen hundreds, with roots in the 13 00:00:57,880 --> 00:01:01,040 Speaker 1: same words that gave us terms like annoying and odious, 14 00:01:01,480 --> 00:01:06,759 Speaker 1: which boredom certainly is. References to the idea of boredom 15 00:01:06,840 --> 00:01:10,600 Speaker 1: stretch back to the ancient philosophers, but the word boredom 16 00:01:10,680 --> 00:01:14,280 Speaker 1: didn't appear until these seventeen to eighteen hundreds, after which 17 00:01:14,360 --> 00:01:18,720 Speaker 1: literature exploded with musings on it. Tolstoy called boredom the 18 00:01:18,800 --> 00:01:23,920 Speaker 1: desire for desires, Boredom and on we are difficult to study. 19 00:01:24,080 --> 00:01:28,000 Speaker 1: They're distinct from depression. Although they are associated, they can 20 00:01:28,040 --> 00:01:30,360 Speaker 1: be difficult to pin down. It's not like there's a 21 00:01:30,440 --> 00:01:33,360 Speaker 1: blood test for these emotional states, and they seem to 22 00:01:33,400 --> 00:01:37,320 Speaker 1: arise from a combination of both external and internal stimuli. 23 00:01:38,640 --> 00:01:40,800 Speaker 1: For the article of this episode is based on How 24 00:01:40,840 --> 00:01:44,280 Speaker 1: Stuff Works. Spoke via email with Aaron C. Westgate, PhD, 25 00:01:44,600 --> 00:01:47,640 Speaker 1: an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Florida. 26 00:01:48,600 --> 00:01:52,120 Speaker 1: She said, boredom, like all emotions, does not have a 27 00:01:52,240 --> 00:01:56,000 Speaker 1: one to one mapping with symptoms or expressions. Or rather, 28 00:01:56,160 --> 00:01:59,160 Speaker 1: we can feel bored in different ways at different times, 29 00:01:59,200 --> 00:02:01,640 Speaker 1: just like we can feel anger and other emotions in 30 00:02:01,680 --> 00:02:05,120 Speaker 1: a variety of ways, from quiet frustration at a late 31 00:02:05,200 --> 00:02:07,640 Speaker 1: colleague to rage at a person who is harmed a 32 00:02:07,680 --> 00:02:11,800 Speaker 1: loved one. Empirical evidence suggests that boredom, for instance, is 33 00:02:11,840 --> 00:02:16,280 Speaker 1: sometimes associated with heightened physiological arousal like a fast heart rate, 34 00:02:16,560 --> 00:02:19,760 Speaker 1: and sometimes with low arousal like a slow heart rate, 35 00:02:19,840 --> 00:02:23,839 Speaker 1: lower blood pressure, et cetera. Thus, there's likely no one 36 00:02:23,919 --> 00:02:29,400 Speaker 1: way that on weave or chronic boredom feels run of 37 00:02:29,440 --> 00:02:32,720 Speaker 1: the mill. Boredom alone won't kill you, but in a 38 00:02:32,840 --> 00:02:37,840 Speaker 1: roundabout way, it can pose problems. Some personalities that gravitate 39 00:02:37,880 --> 00:02:43,160 Speaker 1: toward high risk lifestyles also experience chronic boredom. How Stuff 40 00:02:43,160 --> 00:02:46,440 Speaker 1: Works also spoke via email with Emily Edlin, PhD, a 41 00:02:46,480 --> 00:02:51,960 Speaker 1: clinical psychologist and practicing therapist. She said, neurological studies suggest 42 00:02:52,000 --> 00:02:55,480 Speaker 1: that some people, like thrill seekers, need more stimulation to 43 00:02:55,520 --> 00:02:59,160 Speaker 1: release the brain's pleasure and reward chemicals. For some reason, 44 00:02:59,320 --> 00:03:03,919 Speaker 1: men are more likely to fall in this category. When 45 00:03:03,960 --> 00:03:07,640 Speaker 1: we experience joy and excitement in a new situation, a 46 00:03:07,680 --> 00:03:12,040 Speaker 1: chemical messenger or neurotransmitter called dopamine triggers that response in 47 00:03:12,040 --> 00:03:16,640 Speaker 1: our brains. It appears that high risk, boredom prone people 48 00:03:16,919 --> 00:03:20,440 Speaker 1: may have naturally lower levels of dopamine, meaning that they 49 00:03:20,440 --> 00:03:24,040 Speaker 1: require a heightened sense of novelty to stimulate their brains. 50 00:03:25,240 --> 00:03:27,920 Speaker 1: ONWI is more likely to be experienced by people with 51 00:03:28,000 --> 00:03:33,560 Speaker 1: mental disorders, and perhaps especially attention disorders like ADHD. People 52 00:03:33,560 --> 00:03:36,920 Speaker 1: with brain injuries to their frontal cortex experience more boredom 53 00:03:37,040 --> 00:03:41,760 Speaker 1: and greater risk taking urges too. Interestingly, the frontal cortex 54 00:03:41,800 --> 00:03:45,280 Speaker 1: also controls our perception of time, which could be linked 55 00:03:45,320 --> 00:03:48,360 Speaker 1: to the sensation of time passing more slowly when we're bored. 56 00:03:49,480 --> 00:03:52,000 Speaker 1: It also seems that people with low self awareness about 57 00:03:52,000 --> 00:03:56,520 Speaker 1: their emotions are more prone to ANWI, Edlin said. The 58 00:03:56,520 --> 00:03:59,240 Speaker 1: theory is that they do not have awareness about what 59 00:03:59,280 --> 00:04:06,600 Speaker 1: provides them satisfaction. While science doesn't completely understand the relationship 60 00:04:06,680 --> 00:04:10,520 Speaker 1: between boredom and risk taking, it can spiral into danger. 61 00:04:11,680 --> 00:04:14,040 Speaker 1: A study about boredom published in twenty ten in the 62 00:04:14,080 --> 00:04:18,320 Speaker 1: International Journal of Epidemiology concluded those with a great deal 63 00:04:18,320 --> 00:04:20,880 Speaker 1: of boredom were more likely to die during follow up 64 00:04:20,960 --> 00:04:24,040 Speaker 1: than those not bored at all. In particular, they were 65 00:04:24,080 --> 00:04:28,760 Speaker 1: more likely to die from a cardiovascular disease fatal event. However, 66 00:04:29,000 --> 00:04:31,839 Speaker 1: the state of boredom is almost certainly a proxy for 67 00:04:31,920 --> 00:04:36,560 Speaker 1: other risk factors. In other words, the people in the 68 00:04:36,600 --> 00:04:40,400 Speaker 1: study weren't dying of literal boredom, but boredom led them 69 00:04:40,440 --> 00:04:44,600 Speaker 1: to unhealthy behaviors like excessive drinking, smoking, and use of 70 00:04:44,640 --> 00:04:50,040 Speaker 1: other drugs. In cases like these, boredem simultaneously serves as 71 00:04:50,080 --> 00:04:54,800 Speaker 1: a symptom and a stimulant for adverse behavior. People may 72 00:04:54,839 --> 00:04:58,200 Speaker 1: not have the coping mechanisms and ability to put circumstances 73 00:04:58,279 --> 00:05:04,000 Speaker 1: in perspective to overcome borda leading to continuous dissatisfaction. Issues 74 00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:08,839 Speaker 1: around gambling are also associated, so how can we combat 75 00:05:09,080 --> 00:05:13,560 Speaker 1: this elusive pest. A study found the people who reported 76 00:05:13,560 --> 00:05:17,600 Speaker 1: feelings of boredom frequently tried to alleviate it with brief distractions, 77 00:05:17,720 --> 00:05:21,920 Speaker 1: including work breaks or doing laundry, but these boredom band 78 00:05:21,920 --> 00:05:25,960 Speaker 1: aids soon failed. On the other hand, people who engaged 79 00:05:25,960 --> 00:05:30,880 Speaker 1: with other people or practiced findfulness were more successful. It's 80 00:05:31,000 --> 00:05:34,040 Speaker 1: not easy to change our reactions to things, but you 81 00:05:34,120 --> 00:05:37,800 Speaker 1: can try to revamp your thoughts about tasks that cause boredom. 82 00:05:39,120 --> 00:05:42,200 Speaker 1: For example, if you're a student working on math problems 83 00:05:42,200 --> 00:05:44,920 Speaker 1: that you find boring, you can remind yourself that these 84 00:05:44,960 --> 00:05:49,840 Speaker 1: exercises are part of reaching your future goals. Mild boredom 85 00:05:49,880 --> 00:05:51,880 Speaker 1: can be thought of as a normal part of the 86 00:05:51,960 --> 00:05:55,880 Speaker 1: human experience, a contrast that sets off the fun and 87 00:05:55,960 --> 00:06:00,200 Speaker 1: beautiful moments. You can thus try to reframe boredom as 88 00:06:00,520 --> 00:06:05,480 Speaker 1: okay and not something to immediately get rid of. Edlin said, 89 00:06:06,240 --> 00:06:09,120 Speaker 1: the more often we allow ourselves to feel boredom not 90 00:06:09,240 --> 00:06:12,719 Speaker 1: automatically picking up our phones, the more opportunities we have 91 00:06:12,800 --> 00:06:16,080 Speaker 1: to tolerate it and use it to channel innovative and 92 00:06:16,160 --> 00:06:20,560 Speaker 1: creative thinking. In fact, children who figure out how to tolerate 93 00:06:20,480 --> 00:06:23,800 Speaker 1: boredom through their own creativity and not by depending on others, 94 00:06:24,080 --> 00:06:28,719 Speaker 1: are more likely to manage it better as adults. All 95 00:06:28,760 --> 00:06:32,600 Speaker 1: that said, while you're working on mindfulness, shifting gears and 96 00:06:32,640 --> 00:06:35,320 Speaker 1: starting in on some other activity can help in the 97 00:06:35,360 --> 00:06:39,760 Speaker 1: short run. A Westgate said, people can do something else 98 00:06:39,920 --> 00:06:42,400 Speaker 1: entirely in hopes that the new activity will be a 99 00:06:42,520 --> 00:06:46,719 Speaker 1: better attentional fit that is not too hard, not too easy, 100 00:06:47,160 --> 00:06:52,640 Speaker 1: and more meaningful than their current task. When searching for 101 00:06:52,680 --> 00:06:57,000 Speaker 1: an activity, psychologists recommend finding an optimal amount of ease 102 00:06:57,120 --> 00:07:02,560 Speaker 1: and challenge called flow. In essence, flow means getting into 103 00:07:02,600 --> 00:07:05,520 Speaker 1: a groove like our runner's high or hitting a tennis 104 00:07:05,560 --> 00:07:09,240 Speaker 1: ball back and forth. It demands more skill and agility 105 00:07:09,320 --> 00:07:12,600 Speaker 1: than tedious tasks, but at a low enough intensity that 106 00:07:12,640 --> 00:07:17,520 Speaker 1: you reap the mental reward of accomplishment in the longer run. 107 00:07:17,760 --> 00:07:21,360 Speaker 1: Engaging with healthy interests or hobbies, picking up new ones, 108 00:07:21,640 --> 00:07:24,680 Speaker 1: and getting in more physical exercise have all been shown 109 00:07:24,800 --> 00:07:28,880 Speaker 1: to reduce boredom for someone in the middle of own wei. 110 00:07:29,600 --> 00:07:32,240 Speaker 1: This kind of advice is at least as annoying as 111 00:07:32,240 --> 00:07:35,920 Speaker 1: boredom itself, but it's definitely worth a try to get 112 00:07:35,960 --> 00:07:43,760 Speaker 1: yourself feeling engaged with the world again. Today's episode is 113 00:07:43,800 --> 00:07:46,119 Speaker 1: based on the articles can You Die of Boredom? Written 114 00:07:46,120 --> 00:07:49,920 Speaker 1: by Kristin Konger and Embracing on wi How Boredom Can 115 00:07:49,960 --> 00:07:52,680 Speaker 1: Be Good for You written by Leah Hoyt on HowStuffWorks 116 00:07:52,680 --> 00:07:55,520 Speaker 1: dot com. Brain Stuff is production by Heart Radio in 117 00:07:55,600 --> 00:07:58,720 Speaker 1: partnership with HowStuffWorks dot Com and is produced by Tyler Klang. 118 00:07:59,280 --> 00:08:02,440 Speaker 1: For more podcasts, It's my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, 119 00:08:02,600 --> 00:08:05,480 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.