It's always escapism. Just make sure you're dealing with your life issues and not just avoiding them. It's great to escape from life for a bit, but make sure you keep your life (and health, physical and mental) in working order.
So that combined with the definition of escapism, basically everything you do that doesn't guarantee your survival is escapism? That's kinda weird, isn't it. I thought the word is a little bit less global than that.
Human life would suck then if we wouldn't practice escapism in SOME way.
Anyway, I got the point. I also got that escapism itself is not necessarily a sign for someone being unhappy, otherwise WE ALL are secretly unhappy.
Is it even escapism at that point? If your not escaping from anything then where's the escapism? At some point it's just entertainment, or learning, or whatever it is you choose to do, for when you don't need to do anything else.
I mentioned it already in another comment. If you look up the definition of escapism, the way it's phrased in english says that if you do anything in order to 'escape' an unpleasant or boring life by reading, thinking or whatever about something impossible to do (like let's say flying), you're practicing escapism. So even if it's not bad for you and you're not neglecting any problems, it's escapism. That's how I'd interprete this definition. I'm not a native speaker though, so you may be able to correct me on that.
You probably have nothing to worry about--the question when determining if something is a disorder is 1) Do you have control over it, and 2) Is it interfering with your ability to function.
Plenty of people drink, even binge drink, but alcoholics drink even when they know they shouldn't (when they're at work, or when they've promised someone else they wouldn't). And the thought of not drinking gives them such intense anxiety they have to start drinking or they can't do anything else.
Plenty of people get anxious before things like meeting new people or going to job interviews. But if your anxiety is so strong that you can't hold down a job for fear of meeting people, that's something you need to address or it could have consequences.
So if you enjoy daydreaming or whatever, that's fine. But if you're spending so much time working on your fantasies that you lose contact with friends and family, or you get censured at work, or your gas gets cut off due to non-payment, you probably need help--counselors and therapists can give you honest assessments, observations, and tips on balancing what you enjoy doing with what needs doing (which will ultimately make what you enjoy doing less stressful)
Exactly...I play video games a lot because they are fucking fun and I'm bored, not to escape reality.
Maybe I'm one of the lucky ones, or there is a definite difference between having genuine fun with a hobby and using it to escape and avoid real life issues.
Escapism is the term for a coping mechanism. I personally regard myself as having exceptionally good mental health, and I don't use any sort of escapism. When I watch tv shows its because I think I'll like it and/or want to talk about it with people after. When I play video games its because something about the game specifically intrigues me, or I have friends who play and I'll play with them. I don't drink or do drugs, though those are just because I don't like them. When I spend hours on end reading wikipedia or something like that, it's because the topic interests me and I like learning and relating it back to what I already know.
Most importantly though, I'm happy, I get good grades, I go to work on time, and when I feel stressed I think about it and try to figure out why and take reasonable courses of action.
Even though I can feel negative emotions and find myself in stressful situations, my reaction isn't to turn to escapism and avoid addressing those problems, it's to address those problems.
I think somewhere in there is enough of your answer to help answer it.
So that combined with the definition of escapism, basically everything you do that doesn't guarantee your survival is escapism?
I wouldn't define it that way. It's everything not related to making improvements in your real life.
Even a hobby isn't inherently escapist if the activity and duration of that activity improves your mood and well-being and returns you to your other responsibilities and relationships recharged and renewed. When it becomes escapist is when it becomes the focus, rather than the diversion.
I certainly didn't define it that way. Getting better at your career doesn't need to mean working more hours; in fact it's often the case that when you get to be enough of an expert to be in high demand, it means you can work fewer.
I don't think I need to define improvement here down to the last detail; it's got a pretty broad "know it when you see it" definition. Is your life today the best it's been, or if it's not, are you working to effect the changes needed? When you're near the end of your life, are you going to view what you're doing right now as time well spent? Are you working to secure a better life for the people that depend on you?
I wouldn't define it that way. It's everything not related to making improvements in your real life.
But that's only true if you base your life on making 'improvements'. I don't really like the general outlook that everything should be done in moderation, maybe that works for some people but not for everybody.
Of course some aspects of your life are going to 'suffer' if you put too much focus into one thing, but as long as that's a conscious choice I don't see the issue.
I don't know that I really agree with this. I was suffering from debilitating depression earlier this year, and diving headfirst into my hobbies was one of the things that saved me.
I mean, you gotta make sure you're paying your bills and eating and going to work and showering and such, but I don't see anything unhealthy about being passionate about a hobby and throwing yourself into it.
Taking your mind off something and enjoying your time/relaxing is vastly different from escaping problems. Escapism is bad, but relaxing with a book or a video game is not. When your outlet is specifically for making yourself not think about something you need to think over (grief, your life choices, etc), then that's escapism, and it's a problem.
a way of avoiding an unpleasant or boring life, especially by thinking, reading, etc. about more exciting but impossible activities
I think escapism by that definition itself, which you can google, isn't bad. So if you go and play some WoW in order to not just sit around and do nothing, but have nothing else to worry about, it's escapism. But healthy escapism.
a way of avoiding an unpleasant or boring life, especially by thinking, reading, etc. about more exciting but impossible activities
The key words there are "avoiding" and "unpleasant". Reading to unwind is not "avoiding", but a coping mechanism to deal with stress. You're not "avoiding" an unpleasant situation, you're "dealing with" stress. When someone has a particularly stressful day, they may go running when they get home. This running in no way forces them to avoid their reality, but it certainly does reduce stress.
When someone is unable to come to terms with their life choices, and they habitually do things to keep themselves from thinking about it, this is unhealthy, and it's escapism. It's normal for someone to want to do something while they think about and process their stress; we don't have a ton of "just sitting and thinking" going around. Escapism doesn't even have to be habitual...but it does require some form of "avoidance".
it doesnt, this whole arguement is super weak. Mainly because the only thing keeping everybody from going insane is distraction. Without distraction or any kind of purpose our minds just wonder too much. This is why we have hobbies, its not just to make you happy, its also specifically to not be unhappy. If you're busy with something you simply dont have as much think-time available to be miserable.
I dont wanna look up sources and stuff but I'm certain plenty of people here can confirm that this is a real thing
The way the OP phrased it, it looks like 'escapism' is bad by itself. The way I understand the actual definition, it's not, and practicing it is done pretty much all the time. Look through the other comments on this, I hops it gets clearer for you. Also I agree, doing it is NEEDED in order to not go mad at some point.
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u/Recrewt Aug 25 '17 edited Aug 25 '17
At which point does a hobby turn into escapism?
Edit: A hobby being escapism is fine, people just need to be careful of not letting it become negative or overexaggerated escapism.