I recently gave a presentation on boredom and the recovery process. I chose the topic because I believe boredom has become an increasingly powerful and often overlooked influence in the addiction cycle.
I teach a trigger acronym called BADD: bored, anxious or angry, disconnected, and depleted. Over the years, I have found that most of the triggers clients experience fall into one or more of these categories. Boredom, however, may be changing in a significant way.
We are losing the habit of being bored. Nearly every unoccupied moment can now be filled with scrolling, streaming, checking, or searching. As a result, our capacity to remain present when nothing immediately captures our attention has begun to atrophy.
We sometimes romanticize boredom as a source of creativity, but boredom does not automatically make us creative. It creates an uncomfortable state in which we want meaningful engagement, but cannot find it in the moment. That physical, emotional and mental discomfort produces an urge to act. Creativity is one possible response, but so are compulsive stimulation, numbing, and escape. For many people in recovery, the fastest route out of boredom follows a familiar pathway toward acting out.
This gives therapists an important point of intervention. Rather than helping clients eliminate boredom, we can help them expand their capacity to experience it without immediately escaping it. We can invite curiosity: What does this discomfort reveal? Is the person longing for challenge, connection, rest, meaning, or simply another burst of stimulation?
The goal is not to make boredom enjoyable. It is to widen the space between discomfort and action. Each time a client remains in that space long enough to choose rather than react, boredom becomes more than a trigger. It becomes an opportunity to practice freedom.
Perhaps this is one of the more essential tasks of recovery: learning that an unfilled moment is not an emergency. Over time, what once felt like emptiness may become room for reflection, creativity, connection, and even rest. Recovery does not require clients to be engaged in every moment. It helps them build a life they no longer need to continually escape.
I have created a resource outlining different types of boredom and helpful ways to respond to each one. If you would like a copy, please email me. I would be happy to send it to you.
✉️ Mike Vaughn
Executive Director |
