Mindlessly scrolling on social media, you may be engaging in Emotional Novocaine? What’s that you ask.
Examples of Emotional Novocaine are mindlessly scrolling on social media, shopping as a distraction, drinking alcohol to avoid emotions, majorly gossiping with friends, or only focusing on other’s problem.
Emotional Novocaine is anything that you do to stay numb. Doing things that you do compulsively to avoid feeling feelings.
Of course, you may do some to these things intentionally and for pure enjoyment. If you find yourself reverting to a certain activity when negative emotions come up, whether it be unhappiness, loneliness, boredom etc, that’s a big indicator that you’re engaging in emotional novocaine.
Changing lifestyle behaviour habits, be it physical, mental or emotional is not an easy feat. First you need to identify and acknowledge that you engage in mindless activities to numb yourself from feeling a certain way. If yes you do, then it may be time to truly let yourself feel the emotion at hand rather than avoiding it. To break this cycle, and change this behaviour remember you can seek the help of a close friend, support person or health professional.
If you are not sure if you engage in emotional novocaine. I recommend doing a self-audit. Start with one day – break it into 24 hours slots and record what you do for each hour. After you have successfully completed one day, aim to do it for the week. After a week reflect and summaries what activities take up the most of your time. Are you engaging in Emotional Novocaine? Acknowledging a behaviour that you want to change is the first step forward.