Boredom Can Shorten Your Life According To Research By University College London

Boredom can shorten you life, according to research carried out by the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at University College London.

The specialists from the department looked at data from 7,524 civil servants between the ages of 35 and 55 during the period between 1985 and 1988. Those civil servants who said that they were bored were nearly 40% more likely to have died by the end of the study than those who said they were not.

It was also found that there was sufficient evidence to link heart disease to boredom.

But why do some people claim that they are bored to death?

• This may be due to the work they are doing being not challenging enough. They need to find something more challenging and stimulating to do at work or else they'll really be bored to death.

• Sometimes boredom could be the result of depression. If you're depressed, you usually lose interest in what you are doing. Depression interferes with your work, social and family life.

• People have too much time on their hands. These people include retirees and wealthy people with not very much to do to keep themselves occupied.

• People with high intelligence are grouped with people with average intelligence. Take the case of a very intelligent child being in the same class as children of average intelligence. The intelligent child picks up information very quickly and is ready to move on to a new topic. They are unable to move on because the rest of the class is still learning the topic. As a result the intelligent child very quickly gets bored with lessons.

• There is a lack of change in the environment. If you've been in the same environment for too long you'll soon get bored with your surrounding.
Some people who are bored to death turn to drinking and smoking to combat their boredom. They get addicted to drinking, smoking and other drugs which are detrimental to their health.

Some of the ways to cure boredom are:

• If you find the work routine too repetitive and boring, speak to your manager and ask if the work of the department can be rotated. For example, if you work in the accounts department, one person may be dealing with the accounts receivable, another person may be dealing with accounts payable, yet another may be dealing with asset ledgers. If you're dealing with only one area of the departmental work, then it will get rather boring after a while. You may feel that you can do the tasks blindfolded. It is not challenging enough to keep you stimulated. A job rotation every 3 - 4 months will help to stimulate you and your colleagues because you look forward to doing something different when you rotate to another task within the department. The departmental workload is still done and it's good for the department as you'll be able to cover for each other during holiday period or when you or your colleague is on sick leave.

• Once you recognize the signs of depression and if you are bored as a result of it, you should ask for help and support. Speak to your family and friends and let them know what you're going through. Tell them you need their support and understanding. Don't shut them out as your depression might get worse in isolation. The signs of depression include feelings of helplessness, feeling bored with daily activities, feeling tired and physically drained, change in the sleep pattern or appetite and having problems with their concentration.

• If you have too much time on your hands, you can sign up as a volunteer worker. There are many charitable organisations looking for the services of volunteers. You'll feel great within yourself knowing your contribution has helped to make the lives of other people better.

• If you feel bored because you're not in the right learning group, make a request to get transferred to a more advance learning group. You may have been accidentally put to a beginner's class instead of an intermediate or advanced class. You may be happy and feel that the pace of this class is well within your comfort zone but the price you've to pay for this comfort is boredom.

• If you're bore with your environment, make changes to it. If you're bored with the colour of your room, change it to a different colour to please your senses. If you're bored with your surrounding, take a short break from your surrounding. Go away for a few days and visit your relative or friend in another location.
Boredom is a state of mind and should be tackled as soon as possible. The mind needs to be challenged and stimulated before you're bored to death. A change in your lifestyle can also open up new interests to keep you from being bored.

Chow Siew is a retired accountant. He is the webmaster of retirement-lounge.com. This site brings news, pension information and activities for the online retirement community. This is also where seniors socialize and interact with each other. He also maintains a travel portal my-london-breaks.com