THE TWO SIDES OF DISTRACTION | Overcome distraction

28 May, 2019 (Consolace Counselling Services)

Distraction and mental health

 “Don't get distracted, pay attention!”, said the teacher to her student. Of course, no teacher wants their students to get distracted. This indicates that distraction is not good for the mental health of a person. But many a time, I've heard people saying, “Distract yourself from the problems, you'll feel better.” This reveals a good side of distraction. It is true that our mind is not always in our control. It does lose focus and wanders around. The good thing is that not all distractions are the same. Distraction can be both positive and negative. Let us see how distraction can be both good and bad for our mental health. The two sides of distraction

Positive Distractions:

These are the kind of distractions that help us escape from the negativity in life. How can you distract yourself in healthy ways? For this, first you have to make a choice. You need to consciously shift your focus from what is disturbing you. Consider the following scenarios-

     Suresh has recently lost his father to cancer. Sadness has engulfed him to an extent that he is not able to focus on his work or family needs. Someone suggested him to take little breaks between his work to divert his mind from all the chaos. He started reading a book whenever he thought he is losing focus in work. He reads one page and gets back to work. This little distraction in the form of book reading brought about positive changes in his work performance. At home, he started spending more time with his kids, playing and drawing with them. This is how he positively distracted himself from the sadness that hampered his personal growth.

     Arya is a ninth standard student. She takes little time out of her study hour to listen to music. Music refreshes her mind and help her focus better when she opens the book after a break.

There are many ways in which we can distract ourselves by engaging in creative activities that doesn't leave any adverse effect on the situations we are distracting us from. Positive distractions in a way help in better mental satisfaction and peace. One should however be careful of the situations you choose to distract from. Healthy distractions are meant only for healthy reasons.

Negative Distractions:

When they say, 'Starve your distractions and feed your focus, they are actually referring to negative distractions in life. We live in a world that constantly gives us opportunity to get distracted. You are working on an important project and your phone beeps to tell you there's a WhatsApp message or a facebook notification for you. You are in your classroom and your mind wanders around outside the classroom. You are reading a book but you are distracted by the television in the other room. Each one of us is distracted in some way or the other in today's world. Alcoholism is some people's way to distract oneself from life's problems. Many of us don't even need an external thing to distract us. We ourselves distract us by either worrying about the future or stressing about the past. Negative thoughts are one of the major causes of distraction.

Though there are both good and bad kind of distractions, its impact on us depends entirely on our choice. Distracting yourself in healthy ways for good reasons can do more good than any harm. You can let your mind drift away to something else when you are enjoying a cup of coffee, you can't do the same thing when you are driving. The choice of situation and the kind of distraction you choose make all the difference. The most important thing is to know the difference between different forms of distraction so as to make the right choice. Instead of getting rid of distractions, you just have to train your minds to distract yourself in a positive way whenever needed. Train your minds to focus on the positive and distract from the negative. For further queries or assistance, get in touch with Consolace counselling services in Trivandrum.


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