Practicing the Art of Distraction
December 6, 2023
It is tempting to label all distractions as inherently bad, especially if you identify as a high performer in your field. Labelling distractions this way can make it seem simple to combat them, but does our relationship to distraction need to be so adversarial? If distractions can lead to multiple outcomes, both good and bad, we can start to appreciate them and use them to our advantage.
Researchers have found that while it may feel like you are extremely focused on just one thing, the brain naturally distracts itself with many tiny, quick changes in focus – in other words, distraction is naturally occurring even when you feel you are deeply focused on something.
Distractions can serve several adaptive functions:
Distraction has been found to have a “dampening” effect on Amygdala hyperactivation. Hyperactivation of the amygdala is what can lead to increased anxiety and decreased ability to access the more rational part of our minds. If our amygdala is overactivated – we may perceive threats where there aren’t any.
Several studies have shown the efficacy of distraction as a tool for pain management.
Distraction is sometimes used as a strategy to treat OCD. An individual with obsessive thoughts and related compulsions can use distractions to prevent or interrupt their compulsions.
Distraction is a helpful harm reduction tool to prevent a person from engaging with harmful substances.
In Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, Marsha Linehan uses the strategy of “Wise mind ACCEPTs” to alleviate emotional distress that feels intolerable. Once the level of distress is tolerable, the emotion can be regulated.
Whether or not a distraction is “good” or “bad” has little to do with the activity itself. It relates more to the amount of time you are engaging with the distraction, and the intention behind it. Think of the intention as the “why” and the “how” of the distraction. Author and game designer Jane McGonigal describes two methods of distraction: self-expansion, and self-suppression. Self-expansive distraction promotes positive experiences, while self-suppressive distraction avoids negative experiences. Distraction that is used for the purposes of connection and enrichment is better than distraction used for the purposes of escape. You can practice asking yourself questions like “am I seeking to escape something?” or “am I trying to enrich my life?” to help assess your distraction moment to moment. No two people will have the same “good” or “bad” distractions. One person’s avoidant distraction may be another person’s enriching distraction, and the “why” and the “how” can be fluid depending on the day or the amount of time you’re engaging with it. For example, you might engage in weightlifting as a positive, expansive, or enriching distraction from your workday. However, if you rely on this distraction indefinitely, and seek it out every time a certain event, scenario, thought, or feeling comes up, it becomes avoidant – even though it may have started out as expansive.
So, what do you do when you catch an avoidant distraction? If you’re six episodes into your favourite show and you’ve managed to witness yourself actively engaging with one of these avoidant distractions, ask yourself what you might be avoiding. Use the power of your own curiosity to approach the thing you are avoiding and check in with yourself. How does it make you feel? What does it do to your body? Practice a willingness to approach the thing you are suppressing. This can be very difficult and takes practice. Sometimes, it will be overwhelming. If it is, distract yourself temporarily with something that will help you catch your breath, so you can approach the thing again.
There are many potential benefits to practicing the art of distraction. It can help you work through painful experiences and learn from them. If you start exploring the “why” and the “how” of it, distraction can enable growth, forward movement, and help you perform at your best.
Written by Heather Levy
References
Hershfield, J. (2017, July 23). How to Respond to Unwanted, Obsessive Thoughts. Sheppard Pratt https://www.sheppardpratt.org/news-views/story/how-to-respond-to-unwanted-obsessive-thoughts/
Leprince – Ringuet, D. (2018, August 22). Here's scientific proof your brain was designed to be distracted. Wired. https://www.wired.co.uk/article/brain-distraction-procrastination-science
Linehan, M., M., (2014). DBT Training Manual. New York, NY: The Guilford Press.
Nir Eyal, N, Robertson, C. (2017 June 17) When Distraction is a good thing. Psychology Today.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/automatic-you/201706/when-distraction-is-good-thing
Simon, D., Adler, N., Kaufmann, C., & Kathmann, N. (2014). Amygdala hyperactivation during symptom provocation in obsessive–compulsive disorder and its modulation by distraction. NeuroImage: Clinical, 4, 549-557.
Subnis, U. B., Starkweather, A., & Menzies, V. (2016). A current review of distraction-based interventions for chronic pain management. European Journal of Integrative Medicine, 8(5), 715-722.
Tull, M. (2021, June 28). Using Distraction for Coping With Emotions and PTSD. Verywell Mind
https://www.verywellmind.com/coping-with-emotions-with-distraction