WEBVTT - Can You Really Die of Boredom?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brainsty a production of iHeartRadio, Hey brain Stuff.

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren vogelbam here ever felt bored to tears? Maybe it

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<v Speaker 1>was yesterday flipping through a thousand streaming options and not

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<v Speaker 1>liking any of them. Or maybe it's just the daily

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<v Speaker 1>grind of work, dinner, and chores that never seems to change.

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<v Speaker 1>Boredom is sort of an emotional oxymoron. Your mind itches

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<v Speaker 1>for something to do, but your body doesn't respond. What

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<v Speaker 1>happens when that flatlined feeling doesn't go away? Could you

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<v Speaker 1>really die of boredom? We sometimes call chronic boredom on Wei,

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<v Speaker 1>characterized by listlessness, discontent, and sadness, a kind of mental weariness.

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<v Speaker 1>On Wei is a French word that English speakers adopted

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<v Speaker 1>around the sixteen to seventeen hundreds, with roots in the

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<v Speaker 1>same words that gave us terms like annoying and odious,

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<v Speaker 1>which boredom certainly is. References to the idea of boredom

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<v Speaker 1>stretch back to the ancient philosophers, but the word boredom

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<v Speaker 1>didn't appear until these seventeen to eighteen hundreds, after which

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<v Speaker 1>literature exploded with musings on it. Tolstoy called boredom the

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<v Speaker 1>desire for desires, Boredom and on we are difficult to study.

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<v Speaker 1>They're distinct from depression. Although they are associated, they can

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<v Speaker 1>be difficult to pin down. It's not like there's a

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<v Speaker 1>blood test for these emotional states, and they seem to

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<v Speaker 1>arise from a combination of both external and internal stimuli.

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<v Speaker 1>For the article of this episode is based on How

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff Works. Spoke via email with Aaron C. Westgate, PhD,

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<v Speaker 1>an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Florida.

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<v Speaker 1>She said, boredom, like all emotions, does not have a

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<v Speaker 1>one to one mapping with symptoms or expressions. Or rather,

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<v Speaker 1>we can feel bored in different ways at different times,

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<v Speaker 1>just like we can feel anger and other emotions in

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<v Speaker 1>a variety of ways, from quiet frustration at a late

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<v Speaker 1>colleague to rage at a person who is harmed a

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<v Speaker 1>loved one. Empirical evidence suggests that boredom, for instance, is

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<v Speaker 1>sometimes associated with heightened physiological arousal like a fast heart rate,

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<v Speaker 1>and sometimes with low arousal like a slow heart rate,

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<v Speaker 1>lower blood pressure, et cetera. Thus, there's likely no one

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<v Speaker 1>way that on weave or chronic boredom feels run of

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<v Speaker 1>the mill. Boredom alone won't kill you, but in a

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<v Speaker 1>roundabout way, it can pose problems. Some personalities that gravitate

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<v Speaker 1>toward high risk lifestyles also experience chronic boredom. How Stuff

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<v Speaker 1>Works also spoke via email with Emily Edlin, PhD, a

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<v Speaker 1>clinical psychologist and practicing therapist. She said, neurological studies suggest

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<v Speaker 1>that some people, like thrill seekers, need more stimulation to

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<v Speaker 1>release the brain's pleasure and reward chemicals. For some reason,

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<v Speaker 1>men are more likely to fall in this category. When

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<v Speaker 1>we experience joy and excitement in a new situation, a

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<v Speaker 1>chemical messenger or neurotransmitter called dopamine triggers that response in

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<v Speaker 1>our brains. It appears that high risk, boredom prone people

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<v Speaker 1>may have naturally lower levels of dopamine, meaning that they

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<v Speaker 1>require a heightened sense of novelty to stimulate their brains.

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<v Speaker 1>ONWI is more likely to be experienced by people with

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<v Speaker 1>mental disorders, and perhaps especially attention disorders like ADHD. People

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<v Speaker 1>with brain injuries to their frontal cortex experience more boredom

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<v Speaker 1>and greater risk taking urges too. Interestingly, the frontal cortex

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<v Speaker 1>also controls our perception of time, which could be linked

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<v Speaker 1>to the sensation of time passing more slowly when we're bored.

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<v Speaker 1>It also seems that people with low self awareness about

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<v Speaker 1>their emotions are more prone to ANWI, Edlin said. The

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<v Speaker 1>theory is that they do not have awareness about what

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<v Speaker 1>provides them satisfaction. While science doesn't completely understand the relationship

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<v Speaker 1>between boredom and risk taking, it can spiral into danger.

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<v Speaker 1>A study about boredom published in twenty ten in the

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<v Speaker 1>International Journal of Epidemiology concluded those with a great deal

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<v Speaker 1>of boredom were more likely to die during follow up

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<v Speaker 1>than those not bored at all. In particular, they were

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<v Speaker 1>more likely to die from a cardiovascular disease fatal event. However,

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<v Speaker 1>the state of boredom is almost certainly a proxy for

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<v Speaker 1>other risk factors. In other words, the people in the

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<v Speaker 1>study weren't dying of literal boredom, but boredom led them

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<v Speaker 1>to unhealthy behaviors like excessive drinking, smoking, and use of

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<v Speaker 1>other drugs. In cases like these, boredem simultaneously serves as

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<v Speaker 1>a symptom and a stimulant for adverse behavior. People may

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<v Speaker 1>not have the coping mechanisms and ability to put circumstances

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<v Speaker 1>in perspective to overcome borda leading to continuous dissatisfaction. Issues

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<v Speaker 1>around gambling are also associated, so how can we combat

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<v Speaker 1>this elusive pest. A study found the people who reported

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<v Speaker 1>feelings of boredom frequently tried to alleviate it with brief distractions,

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<v Speaker 1>including work breaks or doing laundry, but these boredom band

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<v Speaker 1>aids soon failed. On the other hand, people who engaged

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<v Speaker 1>with other people or practiced findfulness were more successful. It's

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<v Speaker 1>not easy to change our reactions to things, but you

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<v Speaker 1>can try to revamp your thoughts about tasks that cause boredom.

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<v Speaker 1>For example, if you're a student working on math problems

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<v Speaker 1>that you find boring, you can remind yourself that these

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<v Speaker 1>exercises are part of reaching your future goals. Mild boredom

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<v Speaker 1>can be thought of as a normal part of the

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<v Speaker 1>human experience, a contrast that sets off the fun and

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<v Speaker 1>beautiful moments. You can thus try to reframe boredom as

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<v Speaker 1>okay and not something to immediately get rid of. Edlin said,

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<v Speaker 1>the more often we allow ourselves to feel boredom not

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<v Speaker 1>automatically picking up our phones, the more opportunities we have

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<v Speaker 1>to tolerate it and use it to channel innovative and

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<v Speaker 1>creative thinking. In fact, children who figure out how to tolerate

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<v Speaker 1>boredom through their own creativity and not by depending on others,

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<v Speaker 1>are more likely to manage it better as adults. All

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<v Speaker 1>that said, while you're working on mindfulness, shifting gears and

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<v Speaker 1>starting in on some other activity can help in the

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<v Speaker 1>short run. A Westgate said, people can do something else

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<v Speaker 1>entirely in hopes that the new activity will be a

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<v Speaker 1>better attentional fit that is not too hard, not too easy,

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<v Speaker 1>and more meaningful than their current task. When searching for

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<v Speaker 1>an activity, psychologists recommend finding an optimal amount of ease

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<v Speaker 1>and challenge called flow. In essence, flow means getting into

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<v Speaker 1>a groove like our runner's high or hitting a tennis

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<v Speaker 1>ball back and forth. It demands more skill and agility

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<v Speaker 1>than tedious tasks, but at a low enough intensity that

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<v Speaker 1>you reap the mental reward of accomplishment in the longer run.

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<v Speaker 1>Engaging with healthy interests or hobbies, picking up new ones,

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<v Speaker 1>and getting in more physical exercise have all been shown

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<v Speaker 1>to reduce boredom for someone in the middle of own wei.

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<v Speaker 1>This kind of advice is at least as annoying as

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<v Speaker 1>boredom itself, but it's definitely worth a try to get

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<v Speaker 1>yourself feeling engaged with the world again. Today's episode is

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<v Speaker 1>based on the articles can You Die of Boredom? Written

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<v Speaker 1>by Kristin Konger and Embracing on wi How Boredom Can

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<v Speaker 1>Be Good for You written by Leah Hoyt on HowStuffWorks

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<v Speaker 1>dot com. Brain Stuff is production by Heart Radio in

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<v Speaker 1>partnership with HowStuffWorks dot Com and is produced by Tyler Klang.

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