Is being ‘bored’ good for mental health?

Neuroscientists say that ‘allowing yourself to be bored occasionally is essential to brain health.’ Being bored increases our social relationships.

Many social neuroscientists have discovered that our brain networks are most active when we stop doing something.

In other words, creative ideas can thrive in boredom. This is a good opportunity to transform the ideas that arise in the mind into better ideas’.

The argument of British psychologist Sandyman’s book ‘Art of Being Bored’ is similar. She says that ‘the feeling of boredom is so strong and stimulating that it can increase creativity and improve thinking’. In Sandy’s opinion, parents should not worry when children are bored, but rather let them go.

“The good thing about boredom is that you don’t have to do anything special during it,” she says. So let them learn to fight their own boredom. The creativity within them will come out in the same way. They say that it is not good to be bored, but during this time our brain batteries are charged.

In one of his articles published in another American daily, Tim Kreider says, “Idleness is not a vacation, it is as important to our brain as vitamin D is to our body.”

Confusion increases our brain’s focus and curiosity, increasing its creativity and efficiency. It helps us perform better in daily life and create lasting memories.”

In today’s age, constant engagement on office emails, social media and dating apps can take a toll on your mental capacity. It becomes necessary to brake to reactivate it with the same force. That’s why many experts, including Sandy, consider boredom a protective mechanism in this information noise.

“As adults we live in a world where we are bombarded with information,” says Sandy. We can only cope with it when we get used to it.

Besides, we can’t think of anything else. It is only when all these things cause panic that we are motivated to think about other aspects of our lives. Therefore, it is necessary to create even a little boredom, so that the pleasure of doing nothing and accepting it continues.

Given these benefits, instead of seeking ways out of boredom, we should embrace it, let our minds roam freely. Because boredom can be an opportunity to understand what we want in our lives.