Painful bordom

You know I read somewhere that given the choice of being given an electric shock or sitting in boring silence alone and unstimulated for a period of time many people prefer the shock. This was a psychology experiment that was run some time ago. Have you ever experienced intense prolonged deep boredom. Boredom so deep it could almost be described as pain? I have to say I think I can. As a home schooled child before the internet quite a lot of my life felt like that. It must be rare these days now kids have iphones etc and can 'do an internet' whenever they want.

Here's the tragic dichotomy. I would consider my self an extrovert. I enjoy being around people. But most people are so incredibly boring. I mean so so boring. Life is quite boring. I remember working for the civil service dealing with forms and reports that said nothing. Or worse that said what could have been summarised in 3 graphs and 2 paragraphs in several pages. I grew to hate the term 'high level.' It's civil service code for 'ignore all the important details and make unwarranted assumptions.' All I was doing we regurgitating old work applied to new problems that in most cases they weren't best fit to answer. The boredom was agonising.

Am I alone? Am I the only one who finds most every day conversations and jobs so mind agonisingly boring? I thought this was how most autistic people feel?

Parents
  • I can relate to finding everyday conversations and jobs boring. When I used to work in open plan offices I had no interest whatsoever in any of the conversations that seemed to drone on constantly all around me all day every day.

    However as for feeling bored I can't say it's something I experience much if at all. I am 100% introvert and spend the vast majority of my time alone. I am never bored when I'm alone. I have great attention to detail and can become interested in the slightest thing that I switch my focus to.

    sitting in boring silence alone and unstimulated for a period of time

    I would choose this option for sure and I think it would take a long period of time before I started to become bored. I can get lost inside my own thoughts for hours or amuse myself doing number puzzles in my head. Silence for me is not boring, it is a blissful state which I find hugely energizing and uplifting.

Reply
  • I can relate to finding everyday conversations and jobs boring. When I used to work in open plan offices I had no interest whatsoever in any of the conversations that seemed to drone on constantly all around me all day every day.

    However as for feeling bored I can't say it's something I experience much if at all. I am 100% introvert and spend the vast majority of my time alone. I am never bored when I'm alone. I have great attention to detail and can become interested in the slightest thing that I switch my focus to.

    sitting in boring silence alone and unstimulated for a period of time

    I would choose this option for sure and I think it would take a long period of time before I started to become bored. I can get lost inside my own thoughts for hours or amuse myself doing number puzzles in my head. Silence for me is not boring, it is a blissful state which I find hugely energizing and uplifting.

Children
  • I remember being forced to sit on a chair outside of class as some sort of punishment. Back when I was what 4 or 5. The one or so year I was in primary school before being homeschooled. And I decided that I wasn't going to be trapped by the chair I could always be free in my own mind. And you may have thought this meant being quiet and thinking but it didn't. I stretched my arms out on that chair and I became a jet plain in my mind. I sat there making zooming engine noises leaning from left to right picturing clouds to slalom around in my mind.

    The point being the notion of just sitting on a chair was intolerable to me. My brain needed to find a way to make it interesting to me. I think I've always been this way.

  • Yes, this. I would get bored by the interminable dull forms because doing those would require just enough attention to not be able to switch off and go somewhere else in my head. Tasks can be boring (including some conversations) but I don't get bored at home because i can always find something to do or just sit and think.