Our worst habits may have become pandemic vices. But they provide us with a list of potential New Year’s resolutions to attempt in a few days.
Which of your bad habits worsened in 2020?
Did you empty more bottles of booze than usual? Or binge watch a ridiculous amount of mindless TV? Or waste too much time (TikTok, TikTok) through online entertainment? Or lose yourself in your smartphone for hours at a time? Many of us have mastered the time-consuming art of going down rabbit holes that lead to nowhere. And we love it.
Maybe you’ve been self-medicating your fears and stress by overeating again? Or by needless shopping or addictive gambling or pornography? What about “food porn” through delicious-looking television shows such as “The Great British Baking Show,” or late-night baking of newfound recipes?
The lingering pandemic is still to blame, we keep telling ourselves and anyone who will listen to our justifications. Or the initial lockdown and its social restrictions still play a debilitating role with our lifestyle. Possibly all the uncertainty in our world hasn’t loosened its grip as 2021 arrives.
We also can’t forget or dismiss the pressure-cooker of a presidential race this year and the effect that our outgoing commander-in-tweet has had on our psyches. Love him or hate him, President Donald Trump’s personality has raised our collective blood pressure. He has driven some Americans to start drinking, and others to raise a glass (or three) in his honor.
Yes, there is now a vaccine for COVID-19 but there isn’t a vaccine to ward off our deepest fears and transmittable stress. We cope however we can, each in our own way.
Tim Hendrix has coped through smoking. Thomas Lynch through eating everything in sight. Barbara Sullivan through watching “
Working from home has its obvious perks. It also has its inherent pitfalls.
Food is just a hunger pang away. Liquor is just an excuse away. The couch or bed is just steps away. The work commute for these employees no longer affords them an opportunity to get away from their job and their family at the same time.
They’ve been quarantined with swelling anxiety for nine months, giving birth to new lifestyle habits.
“I actually got my (expletive) together during the pandemic,” Tyler Thomas said. “I haven’t drank since January 2020. I walk or run four miles per day. And I got a decent job. I’ve spent my whole life waiting for the zombie apocalypse, I suppose.”
Other people have rediscovered their will power or their love for previous hobbies. Patti McLaughlin has lost 15 pounds. Samuel Franklin lost himself in reading classic literature. Therese Lynch loves doing puzzles again.
From a scientific perspective, it’s all about pleasure seeking.
Our brain becomes oversaturated with stress hormones, which can block the function of the prefrontal cortex. This leads to the over-activation of the brain’s reward center, delivered through many of the mindless pleasures I mentioned earlier. Or more dangerous ones such as illegal drugs, prescription meds, online gambling, or social media addiction.
I’m a junkie for Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, continually posting my newspaper columns on these sites for readers. Unfortunately, I’ve also posted an excessive amount of ramblings that have nothing to do with my job and everything to do with my addiction. I guarantee that I’ve been on social media more this year than any other previous year.
I’ve also placed more online bets on football games this season than I did last season. Every one of them from the comfort of my iPhone, my trusty sidearm throughout this pandemic.
Our phones are the fastest delivery service of feel-good chemical rewards with every ding, ping and sound effect. Who just texted me? Which post of mine got liked on social media? Did I get that email reply? Is my shopping order ready? Did my package arrive on the front porch? The dings are endless on our phones, and within our psyches.
There
Until then, let’s binge on what got us through 2020. I’ll look the other way if you do.
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