03 May Addiction To Distraction Is Hurting Your Reality
Let’s be real here. Distraction is a major problem for people today in our high-tech modern society. It’s too easy to reach for your phone, computer, or game console for a little “R&R” only to never actually address the very issues you were trying to distract yourself from. This is because what you’re really trying to do is not “relax” for a quick second, you’re actually trying to escape your reality because you feel it’s too much to handle. Make no mistake, this is hurting your life.
Distraction Addiction Is Now Dr. Dre 2001 Levels of Chronic
Distraction is the new coping mechanism. Instead of effectively regulating emotions and dealing with discomfort, people’s go to method to “deal” is simply to distract themselves from reality. You see it everywhere from people being chronically on their phone, browsing social media for hours on end, or playing mindless games to pass the time. Doing some of these here and there aren’t inherently bad, but it’s absolutely problematic for the levels that we see today.
The easiest way to see the signs of what I’m talking about is to take a “tablet kid’s” device abruptly and watch what happens. Often times, you’re going to be met with a Defcon 1 sized meltdown. I actually don’t blame the kids for this as it is their parent’s responsibility to teach them emotional regulation as well as boundaries for what’s okay and not okay. The addiction to their distraction device is real for these kids and there isn’t a patch or a 12 step program to fix it.
Distraction Is Escape. Period.
The reason we see people distracting themselves at every chance they get is that they are trying to escape the pains of reality. Have a tough day at work, numb your mind with entertaining TikTok videos. Got in a fight with your partner, vent or read others venting in Reddit’s AITAH subreddit. Experiencing unpleasant emotions, read some articles online that validate your experience in how it’s in no way your own fault. People are escaping their emotions and life situations in favor of alternative realities and shallow experiences that allow them to forget for just a moment.
The problem with this tactic is that the problem didn’t go anywhere, it’s still there. Just because you put the dirty dishes in the sink doesn’t mean that they are magically clean when you come back to them. Now they’re just piled up, smelly, and a new home to nats and flies. It’s a learned response for how to deal with adversity, struggle, and obstacles (usually from childhood) because no one taught the person how to face them head on to overcome. Honestly, this makes for a weak person.
Effects of Perpetual Distraction & Escape
By using distraction as a means to escape instead of meeting your challenges and negative emotions, you weaken your ability to deal with them effectively in the future. Imagine facing struggle or discomfort as a muscle. When worked, the muscle grows stronger and you’re able to handle more things. Neglect it and you get atrophy that leaves you too weak to handle even the most minor inconvenience.
This newly developed bad habit doesn’t just affect the thing you’re avoiding at the time, but it also shapes how you handle struggle in other areas of your life. This newfound chronic coping habit will seep into how you deal with your relationships, work, school, family, and any other challenge you encounter. It essentially reprograms you to perpetually go for flight avoidance instead of fight to actually fix and alleviate the problem in front of you.
Meeting Reality & Adversity With Courage
A better solution to struggle or discomfort is to meet them head on with courage. Courage not only allows you to approach a problem without buckling or folding like a lawn chair, but also works that muscle for you to have more courage in other areas of your life. It also builds up your confidence which can have a long lasting effect on your resilience in life.
To have courage, what you need to do is simple. Face the struggle, face the obstacle, face your fears and move past them regardless of how you feel. Reality doesn’t care about how you feel or what you think, it only cares about what you do. Courage is about action in the face of terror and the sooner you work this muscle, the sooner you grow to be able to better handle life and all it throws at you.
Non-Sugarcoated Truth
The truth is that while escaping reality for a moment may temporarily make you feel better, it leaves you in the same position you were in before, just weaker in the very skills needed to solve the problem. It’s building bad habits, training your mind that you’re too helpless to lead your life, and setting you up for the same response in other areas where action is absolutely needed. Don’t go for the short term feel-good fix, make the smart play and invest in the long term benefits that make your life better.
GI SAID IT is where bold perspective meets brutal honesty. Hosted by GI Griffin, this show and blog challenges conventional thinking, exposes uncomfortable truths, and delivers no-BS insights for independent minds who are tired of surface-level advice. GI SAID IT: Brutally honest, no-BS. Click for more GI SAID IT shows and articles.
