Addiction
Escapism is synonymous with addiction. Addiction revolves around escaping life because life is unbearable, mainly due to feeling that you’re not accepted by a group. Man is social. As a result, humans have a need to belong. Life can feel unbearable for many reasons. Let’s explore what can cause that and learn how to fix it.
Rat Park
American psychologist Dr. Bruce Alexander performed experiments related to drug addiction in the 1970s that are known as “Rat Park”. His goal was to find out what caused people, or in this case, rats, to become drawn into consuming drugs. He created a setting where a community of rats freely roamed and socialized. The park had two bottles; one with plain water, and another laced with cocaine or heroine. A rat that’s part of the community preferred the plain water, and would only occasionally drink the drug-laced water without reaching the point of addiction or overdose. This is because most rats felt that they were part of their community.
Escaping Reality
Social Media
Social media is so much fun. For some, not having a high follower count on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, or Snapchat is a disqualifier in the dating game. It’s also a great way to stay in touch with your friends, family, and peers. It can also make life seem unbearable because of constantly comparing yourself only to the highlights of those around you. In other words, seeing only the absolute best moments of other’s lives and assuming that life is always like that.
Movies
Who doesn’t love a good story? Think about sitting around a fire while camping with your friends and family and telling thrilling stories about you or other people’s lives. Movies take that and visualize great stories. Popular movie genres include adventure, action, drama, horror, comedy, and romance. Scenarios play out in ways that they wouldn’t normally play out in in everyday life. Scenarios that only seem to be a fantasy end up playing out on the big screen.
Shopping
Shopping is a pretty fun way to escape the hardships of daily life. Shopping allows us to have the same products that our favourite influential figures have; people such as celebrities, influencers, athletes, and businessmen. Typically, influential figures appear in advertisements with these products and present a pleasant lifestyle and let shoppers connect the influential figure’s success and lifestyle to the product being sold.
Sports
There is an instinct for men to band together in units and win against an opposing unit. Maybe it’s an instinct that’s been passed down for many generations due to scarcity of resources and having to fight for them to survive. That same instinct is seen in various sports. Example sports include American football, hockey, soccer (or football for those outside North America), and cricket. Like the scarce resources that would be fought over long ago, the ultimate achievement in each different sport is only won by one team each season. Good examples of great achievements in sports are the World Cup, winning the SuperBowl, or hoisting the Stanley Cup.
E-Sports & Video Games
Unlike movies, video games let players interact with their environment to control the outcome of the game. Some fun examples of video games include DOTA 2, Fortnite, and Counter Strike. They use very important human emotional needs to have high players bases. Most of the popular games are team-based, and can create a feeling of community for those that are on a team. Even being a more casual player can make you feel part of the community by making contributions to the scenes of each game in different ways that raise a game’s player base and viewing audience.
The Need to Belong
The need to belong, or belongingness, is the human emotional need to be accepted by a members of group. This can be anything from being cool with teammates on your hockey team, being well liked at your church, or being respected by your co-workers. Other members of the group also seek this feeling from you too.
Self-esteem
Self-esteem is how we value and see yourself. It’s based on our opinions and beliefs about ourselves, which can feel difficult to change. We might also think of this as self-confidence. Having low self-esteem can be one risk factor for using and becoming addicted to drugs.
Meaning in Life
There’s no set meaning of life for everyone. Some base it on happiness, being the best, having a family, getting rich, or experiencing love.
Purpose
Your life purpose is your main motivator in life. Why you wake up everyday. It guides your life choices, affects your behaviour, shapes goals, directs you, and gives life meaning.
Need to Feel Valued
One human being is no match for other beings on earth in a one-to-one comparison, making us prey. That’s why humans make social groups to make surviving easier. However, there is a price to being part of a group. One must add value to the group or get kicked out. Many millennia ago, being kicked out and trying to survive alone meant death. This explains why humans don’t enjoy being alone.
What Are Your Favourite Escapes
We’ve listed many escapes and why everyone indulges in them. What’s your favourite escape? Are there any that weren’t mentioned?
Leave a comment below with your answers!
