Cognitive escape

Cognitive escape is the act of distracting yourself from a difficult thought, emotion, or problem in order to quickly reduce mental tension.

Definition

Cognitive escape may take the form of excessive scrolling, fantasizing, rationalization, chaos of tasks, immediate search for entertainment or jumping between topics. Changing attention itself can be necessary when overloaded, but the problem arises when it becomes the primary way of avoiding decisions and emotions.

Key ideas

Missing key ideas.

Practice and life

When you notice an escape from stimuli, stop for a minute and write down one sentence: "Right now I'm trying not to feel/think about...". This will be enough as a first contact.

Common misunderstanding

It is a mistake to confuse every break with a cognitive escape. It is also a mistake to use distractions as the only method of regulation.

Questions for self-reflection

No questions for self-reflection.

Sources

No sources.