Boredom can kill, finds study

According to researchers, boredom can become a health risk, and cut short life when it serves as a stimulant for adverse behavior.

People may fail to put circumstances in perspective to overcome boredom, and the continuous dissatisfaction may instigate them to drink, and smoke which elevates the risk of heart problems.

Martin Shipley at the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at University College London, one of the co-writers of the study stated, “The findings on heart disease show there was sufficient evidence to say there is a link with boredom.

"It is important that people who have dull jobs find outside interests to keep boredom at bay, rather than turn to drinking or smoking.”

Co-relation between boredom and health explored
Exploring the co-relation between boredom and health, the researchers studied the responses of 7,524 civil servants aged 35 to 55 years in the late 1980s.

They were asked questions pertaining to their levels of boredom classifying them as “not at all,” “a little,” “quite a lot” or “all the time.” None of the participants had symptoms of cardiovascular disease at that time.

The authors then calculated the mortality rate based on their responses a decade after by looking at registry records of those who had passed away by April, 2009.

Findings of the study
The researchers noted that the subjects who reported “a great deal” of boredom were 40 per cent more likely to have died of heart disease by last spring.

The study reflects that dull people were more likely to die young while the risk of dying from heart disease or stroke was twofold among those experiencing "high levels" of boredom as opposed to the contented lot.

The researchers added, “We found that those who report quite a lot or a great deal of boredom are more likely to be younger, to be women, to rate their health worse, to be in low employment grades and to report lower physical activity levels.”

The report is to be published in the International Journal of Epidemiology this week.

A little about boredom
Boredom is a condition when the mind itches for something to do, but the body doesn't respond. It is a condition characterized by wandering attention, impaired efficiency, and low levels of arousal which makes one go dull and lifeless.

Boredom usually results from too little stimulation, motivation, and interest. Experts urge people to find things that are challenging, and interesting in order to shift the focus away from themselves on to other things to remove the dullness from life.

What is important is not to let boredom take over your life!