Escapism is the desire for one to engage in distractions, tearing them away from the reality of the world around them.
We all have a lot going on in our regular lives. So much so that we usually indulge ourselves in activities like playing video games, reading novels, listening to music, watching movies, socializing with friends and everything in between. These activities aren’t inherently bad per se and can also help you manage your mental health but the problem lies in the dosage.
Escapism can easily go from being a potential source of enjoyment and happy refuge to wholesale reality avoidance. Trust me, it can cause some serious damage, from causing havoc at work to causing problems with your personal relationships. It can even make you a shut-in, dropping your productivity. Making you stagnant, stuck in your own fictitious world.
Having a deeper understanding of escapism can help us at times and hold us back in case we try to avoid our problems extensively. Take the case of sugar, a small pastry can do no harm to you and even satisfy your sweet tooth but too much of it can cause some serious health issues.
Understand Your Problems
The key factor for choosing escapism over the task at hand is avoidance. Avoidance a problem that is at hand, something you don’t want to face or solve at the moment. A short trip to the escapist land can be justified but first, try to understand the problem at hand. The situation at the moment can be quite undesirable but if you think about it, you have to face it someday or another, you can’t avoid it forever.
The best you can do is take a moment and think about it. Maybe you can tweak your approach or take someone’s help but try to find a way out.
Take Control
It’s important that we take a break from our daily routine every now and then or else the stress would kill us first. Escapism is not something we can bluntly label good or bad but too much of anything is bad. Addiction, as we call it.
So it is important to have certain limits in place. Aim for Smaller Doses of Escapism. Imagine you are working on a project and take a break for a few minutes by starting to watch this new series on Netflix everyone’s been talking about. I know it can be tempting to finish the entire series in one go but limit yourself to say 1-2 episodes. This lets you enjoy the series over a longer period and also saves you time in hand to complete that project you were working on.
Diversify & Upgrade Your Activities
We get lost in fantasy because it hooks us off reality, so why not change it? What I mean by that is, say you are reading a book, you are really getting into the story page by page, you might even have an urge to finish it at that very moment but wait! Don’t finish the book, stop it say at say 2 or 3 chapters in and switch to another activity the next day. Maybe watch an episode of the series you like or meet your buddies. The point is don’t get too invested in your mental junk food so much that it eats up your productive time.
Sometimes when you feel the urge to escape, learn something new. Maybe a new language or a new skill. Maybe do some of your chores, even that can be quite therapeutic. Use your time more efficiently. Maybe make a to-do list or set a few goals, observe yourself and make yourself better.
In a Nutshell
Escapism should be seen as an emotional treat that you give yourself once in a while. You should feel in control over it, and able to moderate it effectively without getting hooked and forgetting your priorities.
Reality may not always be as fun as movies, books, and video games, but it is still adjustable; and it can be just as exciting! Escapism can be a good thing, and you owe it to yourself to keep it that way.
