You Can Be Bored Sick, Medical Experts Warn

It can give you a backache, a headache, insomnia, chronic fatigue--even impotence.

Studies have shown it has a direct link to alcohol and drug abuse. It has also been associated with gambling, perverse sex and hypochondria. And millions suffer from it.

It’s boredom.

According to one study, more than 20 million Americans are afflicted. On top of that, a Lou Harris survey found that 40% of American workers are bored sick with their jobs.

No longer seen only as a complaint of the chronic malingerer, boredom has come to be recognized as one of America’s most serious health problems. Scientists have discovered, that, in addition to causing psychological disorders, boredom is often at the root of many physical problems.

May Mimic Other Disorders

According to Estelle Ramey, professor of physiology and biophysics at Georgetown University Medical School, the physical symptoms of boredom may mimic a whole range of disorders, including menstrual problems, chronic fatigue, sexual dysfunction, dizziness, skin rashes, headaches, backaches, shortness of breath, insomnia, excessive sleeping, stomach pains, personality changes and chest pains.

“When there’s no physical cause for these ailments, they’re often the result of boredom,” Ramey said. “In other words, such pain is psychogenic, or mental, in origin. Unfortunately, psychogenic pain hurts just as much as any other kind.”

Boredom has even been identified as a risk factor in heart disease--perhaps as great a risk as cigarette smoking and high blood pressure.

And in a study at Ohio State University, boredom, compounded with loneliness, was shown to depress the body’s immune system and thus retard its ability to ward off cancer.

Linked to Substance Abuse

Studies at Florida State University also found a strong relationship between boredom and the frequency of alcohol and drug abuse.

What are the most common causes of boredom? Psychologists list unfulfilled expectations, unchallenging jobs and too much spectating and too little participating.

“Our society has created a population that can’t tolerate monotony. Even a little loneliness or occasional inactivity is too much for some people to bear,” Ramey said. She also blames the media, and television programs such as “Dallas” and “Dynasty” in particular, for hyping expectations about what our lives should be like. “We can’t fulfill the sexual, power or wealth fantasies that we see on television,” Ramey said. “We try. We fail. And then we’re bored.”

Common phrases that signal a state of boredom include: “I’m frustrated,” “I’ve had it up to here” and “I don’t care anymore.”

Boredom drove Louise Markham, 38, of Wellington, Fla., to a dependence on drugs and alcohol that nearly ruined her marriage.

She ‘Drank Boredom Away’

“I had everything a woman could want: a flashy car, a beautiful house, a generous allowance and even someone to take care of the kids,” Markham said. “But I was bored. I had stopped feeling anything--there was neither pain nor pleasure. Every night, I’d go out to drink my boredom away.

“Then one morning I woke up naked in the back of a pickup truck.”

Markham has now sworn off drinking and tries to keep herself busy.

Boredom does not only affect those who are idle and jobless. The workplace is also a major source of boredom, and consequently, a source of a number of psychological and physical ailments.

The National Centers for Disease Control anticipates a sharp rise in neuroses, depression, anxiety, irritability and drug abuse, as well as physical complaints such as headaches and stomachaches, as jobs in the American workplace become more repetitive and boring due to automation.

The same report predicts that the number of complaints stemming from boredom will soon be as high as is the number from accidental injury.

“Boredom at the workplace often occurs when people choose the safer, no-risk path--not the path of variety and stimulation,” said psychiatrist John Curran.

Bobette Williamson, director of the Motivators, a San Diego human resources development firm, explained: “Often, people expect to be further along in their careers than they are and become discouraged and bored with their jobs. Ironically, the same people are often doing better than their contemporaries.”

Physical inactivity is another likely cause of boredom.

“When we exercise, our bodies release hormones called endorphins into the bloodstream,” said Dr. Robert Heath, professor of psychiatry at Tulane University. “The result is a euphoria called kinesthesia--a natural high that helps fight boredom.”

But because of the sedentary nature of many jobs, few Americans get enough exercise to give them that high.

“We’ve also become a nation of spectator sportsmen,” Heath said. “Americans would rather watch than participate.”

A 51-year old patient of Jane Cook, a Minneapolis psychiatrist, complained of insomnia, stomachaches and arthritis.

Pains Disappeared

“She said there was nothing for her to do now that all of her children were on their own,” Cook said.

“Realizing she was bored, I recommended she renew her interest in children with special education problems.

“Within a short while of volunteering, her aches and pains disappeared.”

Though the patient was complaining of physical disorders, the therapist diagnosed boredom as being at the root of the problem.

While for some patients the physical ailments are painfully real, others suffer from hypochondria.

“Some women patients go as far as to insist on hysterectomies,” wrote the late Dr. William A. Nolen, a surgeon who treated many victims of boredom.

Ramey added: “A hysterectomy has ‘clout’. But being bored out of your mind is not considered serious.”

Many experts agree that boredom is a major reason for thrill-seeking, gambling and even promiscuous and perverse sexual behavior.

Howard Glasser, president of Corporate Psychological Services in New York, says many people use thrills and excitement as a shortcut to the body’s release of endorphins--the same hormones secreted during exercise.

“People do dangerous things to get that natural high,” Glasser said.

“Though you may offset boredom for a while, after coming down, you sink into a hole worse than the one you started from,” he warned.

ARE YOU BORED?

How You Can Tell

Dr. Bruce Leckart, author of “Up From Boredom, Down From Fear,” says boredom has reached worrisome proportions when you resist the urge to make a change or take positive action. “You feel as if your feet are stuck in cement overshoes,” he explains. “You’d rather be doing something else but can’t imagine what.” Leckart says if you’re bored, you’re:

Likely to be anxious for security and material things.

Sensitive to criticism.

Lacking in self-confidence.

Afraid of taking chances or making mistakes.

Prone to worry.

Dependent upon others.

Conforming.

What You Can Do

“The best cure for boredom is finding what you enjoy doing and then doing it,” advises Sam Keen, author of “What to Do When You’re Bored and Blue.” Leisure consultant Pat Edwards, president of Constructive Leisure Inc., says: “To be stimulating, an activity must fascinate you personally. While you’re doing it, you should lose track of time and place. The activity should have a purpose and it should challenge your abilities.” Edwards instructs her clients to:

Recall what you did during your leisure time, then evaluate the activity by asking: “Did I enjoy it?” Put it on your schedule if you did.

When you experience a glow of pleasure, write down what you were doing, whom you were with and where you were at the time. Then re-create the situation.

Note sections you turn to first in newspapers and magazines. It’s a good tip-off to your interests.