Imagine that you're jumping off the highest point of a 3,000 foot cliff in Yosemite in your wingsuit, wind surging around you as you speed along the trees and the rocks at 100 mph, adrenaline and dopamine flowing through your bloodstream as your heart beats faster and faster.

Exciting is an understatement.

Now, contrast this scene with the next one. Imagine you're driving, radio broken and phone dead. You've been in the same stretch of land for what seems like an eternity, with only the sound of your car engine to keep you company.

This is, simply put, boring.

However, when we delve deep into why we feel boredom, we realize that boredom is everything but boring. According to Dr. McWelling Todman, Associate Professor of Clinical Practice at the New School University, boredom is defined as "a state of relatively low arousal and dissatisfaction, which is attributed to an inadequately stimulating environment". Being in the line at the DMV, sitting in the waiting room, and being stuck in traffic are all examples of boring situations that you and I know all too well.

However, while you might just think that boredom is caused by being in an understimulating environment, there's a lot more that goes into this feeling.

Some people are actually more predisposed to feeling bored than others, and factors such as gender, age, and even culture play a role in this disparity. There is a survey called the Boredom Proneness Scale that is a popular method for accessing boredom, consisting of 28 statements arranged on a 5-point scale with answers based on how much you agree or disagree with the statements. Using this survey, researchers from the University of West Florida were able to determine that men were actually more prone to boredom than women and that younger individuals were more prone to boredom than older ones. In addition, American students were more susceptible than German students.

Furthermore, I can guarantee that you are most likely reading this article from a smartphone or a laptop. Believe it or not, this is one of the causes of boredom as well. As more and more technology developed, and as social media engulfed our society, we became overstimulated. Imagine the last time you were truly without electronics and social media. How anxious did you feel? If you were like me, very. Because of this rise in technology, we became overstimulated. Now that we're used to so much technology, situations without it became more and more boring. And if we continue along this path, sooner or later, any situation lacking technology will be associated with boredom.

But why does this all matter?

In a study conducted in 2012, Dr. Ela Malkovsky, assistant professor at the University of Waterloo, reported that "high boredom-prone individuals...showed increased symptoms of ADHD and depression".

In fact, in another study in 2007, Anna Gosline, executive director of the Massachusetts Coalition for Serious Illness Care, showed that "reported levels of boredom was the only reliable indicator of whether [former drug addicts] would stay clean".

Therefore, boredom isn't just this idle emotion, it's a real life issue that can be the precursor to many negative outcomes.

But what can we do to fight boredom?

As it turns out, we aren't as helpless as it seems. While boredom may seem inevitable, there are ways we can prevent boredom and the negative consequences that come with it.

One of the best ways was found to be mediation.

In 2017, according to a study by Kwun Shuen Felicia Lee, P.h.D candidate in Psychology at Alliant International University, meditation is shown to increase mindfulness, which is "the process of intentionally bringing one's attention to the present moment-to-moment experience in a non-judgmental and accepting way".

This mindfulness, as Lee explains, is directly linked to not only boredom, but its negative consequences as well. She found that as people increased mindfulness into their lives, proneness of boredom and symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress decreased.

So in looking forward, we need to understand that boredom shouldn't be ignored. Our lives are constantly centered around excitement and stimulation. But we need to take a step back. While I'm not advocating for everyone to devote their lives to meditation, I am advocating for more mindfulness. As a society, we cannot succumb to boredom because we, as humans, are everything but.

References

Gosline, Anna. (2007) "Bored?" Scientific American Mind, 18(6), 20–27.

Lee, K. S. F. (2017). Boredom proneness and symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress: The

moderating effect of mindfulness (Order No. 10616594)

Malkovsky, Ela, et al. (2012) Exploring the Relationship between Boredom and Sustained

Attention. Experimental Brain Research, 221(1), 59–67.

Todman, M. (2003). Boredom and psychotic disorders: Cognitive and motivational issues.

Psychiatry, 66(2), 146-67

Vodanovich, S. J., Kass, S. J., Andrasik, F., Gerber, W., Niederberger, U., & Breaux, C. (2011).

Culture and gender differences in boredom proneness. North American Journal of