Here is a little exercise on measuring one’s psychological health. Make a list of your compensatory mechanisms, or things you do that might not look like the best use of your time yet are crucial to your getting through the day. Here are some examples:
- gaming;
- addictive online shopping;
- aimless browsing of websites;
- binge watching of TV shows;
- smoking;
- alcohol;
- pot;
- flipping through channels;
- active and time-consuming Facebooking or Instagraming;
- protracted news-watching long after you have learned everything that happened today;
- binge eating.
As I keep saying, these are not bad activities. They are good activities in that they literally allow you to survive. Do not, and I repeat, DO NOT try to limit these activities by applying willpower. It will only deplete your energy and make you need more of these mechanisms. Psychologically healthy individuals, a.k.a. lucky fuckers, also have their compensatory mechanisms but instead of the above, they do the following:
- exercise;
- pray;
- meditate;
- take bubble baths;
- play a musical instrument non-commercially;
- write poetry for fun;
- cook for fun;
- knit, scrapbook, do puzzles (but the physical, not the online kind);
- walk.
So once you figure out your compensatory activities from list 1, track how much time you dedicate each day to them and what triggers them. If cumulatively they take more than 10-15% of your awake time in a day, that’s a sign that your psychological health is not great. 7% to 10% is borderline. Under 7% is optimal. (List 2, of course, can and should be pursued for as much as one wants.)
Clarissa's Blog 
Leave a comment