Numbing

Using distractions to dull the intensity of a heavy emotion.

How numbing shows up across different areas of life — and what's really happening underneath.

• Civic and Community · Avoidance What are you avoiding feeling when you drown the world's problems in distraction?
• Civic and Community · Weight What are you really trying not to feel when you doom-scroll the news for hours?
• Creative Expression · Avoidance What are you avoiding feeling when you escape into your phone instead of creating?
• Creative Expression · Weight What are you avoiding when you binge others' work instead of making your own?
• Daily Life · Avoidance What are you avoiding feeling when you vanish into your phone instead of acting?
• Daily Life · Weight What are you really trying not to feel when you scroll for hours every evening?
• Digital Life · Avoidance What are you avoiding feeling when you can't sit still without a screen?
• Digital Life · Weight What are you really trying not to feel when you scroll for hours every night?
• Family · Avoidance What are you avoiding when you fill every quiet moment so you won't feel the family rift?
• Family · Weight Why does the family group chat fill you with dread and send you straight into your phone?
• Finances · Avoidance What are you avoiding feeling when you scroll instead of making a budget?
• Finances · Weight What are you really trying not to feel when you buy something to feel better?
• Health and Body · Avoidance What worry about your health are you keeping out of reach with hours of shows and scrolling?
• Health and Body · Weight Eating past full, not hungry — what heaviness are you trying to fill?
• Leisure and Play · Avoidance Why do you always feel more drained after scrolling than before you started?
• Leisure and Play · Weight What are you really trying not to feel when you binge to fill the quiet?
• Parenting · Avoidance What are you avoiding feeling when you half-watch your phone instead of playing?
• Parenting · Weight What are you really avoiding when you scroll for hours after bedtime?
• Personal Growth · Avoidance Sit down to reflect, discomfort rises, phone appears — what are you refusing to look at?
• Personal Growth · Weight Every moment packed with goals — what are you outrunning by never sitting still?
• Relationships · Avoidance Why do you drown a days-old hurt in scrolling instead of just saying it?
• Relationships · Weight Another night of TV and phones — what ache are you quietly turning down?
• Social · Avoidance What are you avoiding feeling when you distract yourself instead of fixing things with a friend?
• Social · Weight What are you avoiding when you scroll others' plans instead of texting anyone?
• Spirituality and Faith · Avoidance What are you avoiding feeling when you fill the silence with noise?
• Spirituality and Faith · Weight What are you really trying not to feel when your rituals go on autopilot?
• Work and Career · Avoidance What panic are you muting when you open tab after tab instead of the overdue work?
• Work and Career · Weight What heaviness are you really muting when you scroll videos for hours after work?