Tuesday, May 3, 2016

Boredom for the Borderline



"Boredom: The desire for desires." - Leo Tolstoy


Boredom seems to swell like a balloon inside my head, a pressure inside my skull.  Sometimes I think it might burst and I will lose all reason.  As Borderliners, the need to fill the empty void inside of us can lead to outbursts of anger, self damaging impulsiveness (especially drug abuse), and mood swings designed to elicit sensations of feeling.  The walls of an empty room are mirrors that double and redouble our sense of self.  We may become transiently psychotic when we are by ourselves with nothing to do.  Mostly these are simply feelings of unreality and dissociation.  Because my mind is more active in certain areas than a normal brain, boredom is my worst enemy and greatest fear.  I feel a constant need to be stimulated mentally, and this has been true since I was an infant.  The trick is learning how to engage your mind in a healthy way.

1 comment:

  1. Yes. I so get this. It took skill and work to learn to thrive with the wheel of differing alters who live in me. I am rarely idle. I am either writing, reading, painting, something. I get bored with people easily too. If they aren't deep, my mind wanders. So I tend to go into active awareness and listening mindfulness in those times.

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