Do you think it's possible to die of boredom?

[DarkPonzu]

Does anyone think it's scientifically possible to literally die from excessive boredom?

[Blxz]

Only through suicide.
So, no.

[SilentHill]

Only ways I could think of is indirectly as blxz said, suicide, drugs or some other cause.

Boredom like every other emotion is a chemical process. Under the right conditions a deadly reaction in the brain due to the process of boredom seems possible to me. But as far as i'm aware no process exists especially in nature.

[Zaxes]

well if you want to stretch it out there one could say that excessive boredom over a span of a lifetime could lead to depression which leads to a simi-shorter lifespan.

[Blxz]

well if you want to stretch it out there one could say that excessive boredom over a span of a lifetime could lead to depression which leads to a simi-shorter lifespan.

But is that dying of boredom? Is it instead boredom induced stress? This stress leads to potential health effects which lead to death. So if you have a heart attack because you have high blood pressure because you are stressed because you are bored....can the cause of death really be boredom?

I say no, I say that example is a lonely shut-in who still lives in his dead parents basement and just died of a heart-attack with no one around to care for him or discover his body until the neighbours complain of a worse smell than usual.

On an unrelated note. I am kinda bored tonight.

[1337]

well if you want to stretch it out there one could say that excessive boredom over a span of a lifetime could lead to depression which leads to a simi-shorter lifespan.

boredom makes time go slower, so you live longer actually

[Kamos]

Hmm I'd have to say no you can't. I suppose you may be able to die from symptoms of being bored but not the actual feeling itself.

[toaster Assassin]

I do not agree that such is possible.The article bellow states that people who are constantly very bored are more likely to die, but not from the boredom itself.Its more along the lines of how the person deals with it.

http://phys.org/news184916879.html

[txfirefighter]

losing the will to live brings about early death?

[Blxz]

losing the will to live brings about early death?

I dunno, sounds a little far fetched. You can't just 'will' your heart to stop. Even holding your breath until you pass out just makes you start breathing again. Your body is designed to keep on going despite what stupid things someone attempts to do.

Having said that, a lack of maintainance probably contributes if you don't feed yourself properly and don't clean or start to do some self-destructive behaviour to cope with your boredom.

Also, that article you posted there toast, I can hardly call it a scientific study. It was so superficial. Some of the comments below it explain better than I can; things along the lines of "Linking smoking and drinking to boredom with absolutely no evidence". It really says people who self rated themselves as bored died slightly more over a long time period. but no other factors are taken into account.

[hammy]

if you were so bored that you thought it bored to eat then yes as you die of hunger the main cause of hunger was the boredom that stopped you to eat.

maybe

[Blxz]

Which only means that you died of hunger. (possibly stupidity)

[toaster Assassin]

Yeah the article seemed rather half-@$$ed.

It seems that most ways of dying are not directly from boredom itself, but rather from the response to boredom.

[Scotterius]

Well, one could say that cardiac issues cant kill you directly either, unless it leads to tissue hypoxia. Boredom can lead to delusions, depression and dementia so I would argue that it is quite deadly...likely a leading cause of 'accidental deaths'.

So ...you know what could save all of our lives? A new update for Kenshi, that is what. (You listening Chris? Are you listening?!)

Whew, I almost tripped into a vat of acid while I was typing that. If I wasn't so bored I could pay more attention.

[txfirefighter]

hmm... this sounds like fire department talk

[toaster Assassin]

Scotterius said: Boredom can lead to delusions, depression and dementia so I would argue that it is quite deadly...likely a leading cause of 'accidental deaths'.

Sounds more like its the individual rather than boredom itself. A person of weak mental health or some one who was weakened by a prior issue/event maybe, But a regular individual I really cant see that. I agree that boredom can lead to a lowered awareness, but the lowered awareness is itself a response (only one of many) that the individual experienced/caused. You see in your example, you almost fell into the acid because you were too busy messing with the computer. (Plus a vat of LSD could be fun)




Yeah, looking forward to that update.