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Writer's pictureDeric Hollings

Boredom

 

Featured on his 1998 album Ghetto Fabulous, rapper Mystikal released a song entitled “I Smell Smoke.” Personally, I prefer the chopped-not-slopped version of the track. Rapping about the consumption of marijuana (“weed”), the rapper states:

 

Break it up, chop it up, cut it up, tuck the end

Take the filler out and roll it up

Light it, hit it, hold it, pass it

Puff, puff, blow it up

Seem some of y’all niggas be talkin’ about blowin’ [smoking]

But can’t handle the doja [weed]

Getting sleepy an’ shit, quittin’ all early

Bitch, you ain’t no smoker

Y’all must be used to hittin’ that dirt [cheap weed]

The sticks with the brown buds

Me, I ain’t got shit else to do

Nigga, I’m ‘bout to get fucked up

Two cases of green Optimos [cigar brand] burned away

a.m. done turned to p.m.

And nighttime done turned back to day

 

Mystikal adequately describes his use of weed as a coping strategy to deal with boredom—the state of being weary and restless through lack of interest. In this case, weed facilitates escapism—diversion of the mind to imaginative activity, entertainment, or substance use as an escape from reality or routine.

 

In particular, Mystikal outright declares, “Me, I ain’t got shit else to do. Nigga, I’m ‘bout to get fucked up.” Although there’s nothing inherently bad or wrong with some forms of escapism in relation to boredom, I think about what underlies one’s weary and restless state – other than having nothing else to do.

 

Noteworthy, “coping” refers to the act of dealing with or an attempt to overcome problems, difficulties, or boredom. According to one source:

 

Coping is generally categorized into four major categories which are:

 

1. Problem-focused, which addresses the problem causing the distress: Examples of this style include active coping, planning, restraint coping, and suppression of competing activities.

 

2. Emotion-focused, which aims to reduce the negative emotions associated with the problem: Examples of this style include positive reframing, acceptance, turning to religion, and humor.

 

3. Meaning-focused, in which an individual uses cognitive strategies to derive and manage the meaning of the situation

 

4. Social coping (support-seeking) in which an individual reduces stress by seeking emotional or instrumental support from their community.

 

In the case of “I Smell Smoke,” problem-focused coping occurs with use of weed to suppress undesired emotions. However, I posit that it isn’t boredom that leads to such unwanted feelings.

 

Examining the matter through the lens of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), I think of the ABC model and unconditional acceptance (UA) as techniques which may be used in place of unhelpful problem-focused coping strategies that act as a form of escapism. Allow me to explain.

 

Consider the four major irrational beliefs: demandingness, awfulizing, frustration tolerance (particularly of the low variety), and global evaluations. To illustrate each of these unhelpful assumptions, consider the following:

 

Demandingness – “I must never be bored!”

 

Awfulizing – “Being bored is awful!”

 

Low frustration tolerance (LFT) – “I can’t stand being bored!”

 

Global evaluations (GEs) – “Fuck my life, because I’m bored and have nothing to do!”

 

When people are bored (Action) and they tell themselves something like, “I can’t stand being bored” (Belief), it’s the unproductive assumption and not boredom itself that leads to escapism in the form of weed use (Consequence). Herein, I’m not merely speculating about the ABC connection.

 

Consider that in one study, researchers concluded, “We found a positive significant association between boredom proneness and the negative dysfunctional emotions investigated.” In particular, LFT and GEs were said to contribute to boredom.

 

Albert Ellis, who developed REBT, stated of this contributory components of boredom:

 

According to the theory of [REBT], people who are bored and depressed particularly tend to have both discomfort-disturbance or [LFT] and irrationally believe that they absolutely need immediate gratification and that they utterly can’t stand frustration and working for long-range gains. They also usually have, interacting with their LFT, severe feelings of inadequacy that lead them to adopt a boring, safe life; and, as they do so, they frequently berate themselves unmercifully as worthless humans for being so bored and boring.

 

Regarding his statement, Ellis addressed LFT (discomfort-disturbance), demandingness (demanding immediate gratification), and GE (feelings of inadequacy as worthless humans). As such, beliefs about boredom are what cause undesirable outcomes.

 

Without disputing these unproductive assumptions, one may conclude, “I’m ‘bout to get fucked up” to escape unpleasant consequences of the unhelpful beliefs. Additionally, one could practice UA rather than smoking weed in order to cope in a healthier manner.

 

Here, “healthier” refers to the subjective value of building high frustration tolerance in place of seeking to escape the process of self-disturbance. However, I’m not broadly classifying all marijuana use as unhealthy, bad, wrong, or otherwise.

 

Addressing a solution-focused approach to boredom, one source suggests:

 

It is unpleasant to experience boredom, but this is not unbearable. I can bear boredom and use my healthy feelings of displeasure to experiment to alleviate my boredom. Get out of your comfort zone and do something. If that does not work, try something else. You do not have to panic yourself or depress yourself about boredom but see that it is worth it to take action to alleviate this experience. Because it robs you of pleasure, it is in your best interest to be willing to experiment to find new ways of enjoying your moment-to-moment experience.

 

Although boredom is a natural occurrence in life, our beliefs about it don’t need to lead to unpleasant outcomes. Never having used it myself, I’m lead to understand that smoking weed is an enjoyable process for many people.

 

Also, as an REBT practitioner, it’s not my aim to tell people that they shouldn’t, mustn’t, or oughtn’t to “break it up, chop it up, cut it up, tuck the end; take the filler out and roll it up. Light it, hit it, hold it, pass it; puff, puff, blow it up.”

 

If you light it up, it’s on you. Nevertheless, I try to assist people with the exploration of other avenues which may lead to more productive outcomes. For instance, suppose you can’t get access to weed, because of low funds, incarceration, or due to other circumstances.

 

You’ve habitually used weed to cope with being bored, and now what? With the practice of more productive coping mechanisms, such as REBT techniques, you may be less likely to self-disturb by use of unfavorable beliefs.

 

If you’re looking for a provider who works to help you understand how thinking impacts physical, mental, emotional, and behavioral elements of your life, I invite you to reach out today by using the contact widget on my website.

 

As the world’s foremost old school hip hop REBT psychotherapist, I’m pleased to help people with an assortment of issues from anger (hostility, rage, and aggression) to relational issues, adjustment matters, trauma experience, justice involvement, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety and depression, and other mood or personality-related matters.

 

At Hollings Therapy, LLC, serving all of Texas, I aim to treat clients with dignity and respect while offering a multi-lensed approach to the practice of psychotherapy and life coaching. My mission includes: Prioritizing the cognitive and emotive needs of clients, an overall reduction in client suffering, and supporting sustainable growth for the clients I serve. Rather than simply helping you to feel better, I want to help you get better!

 

 

Deric Hollings, LPC, LCSW


 

References:

 

AEI. (n.d.). About Albert Ellis, Ph.D. Albert Ellis Institute. Retrieved from https://albertellis.org/about-albert-ellis-phd/

Algorani, E. B. and Gupta, V. (2023, April 24). Coping mechanisms. StatPearls. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK559031/

DjPurpleI5h. (2013, April 2). Mystikal - I Smell Smoke (chopped not slopped) [Video]. YouTube. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/BYHx5niplDQ?si=Z-zVQX6q-v_LpN0l

Ellis, A. (2008, October 26). Treating the bored client with rational-emotive therapy (RET). The Psychotherapy Patient. Retrieved from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1300/J358v03n03_08

Hollings, D. (n.d.). Blog – Categories: Disputation. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/blog/categories/disputation

Hollings, D. (2022, October 31). Demandingness. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/demandingness

Hollings, D. (2022, March 15). Disclaimer. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/disclaimer

Hollings, D. (2023, September 8). Fair use. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/fair-use

Hollings, D. (2024, April 2). Four major irrational beliefs. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/four-major-irrational-beliefs

Hollings, D. (2023, October 12). Get better. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/get-better

Hollings, D. (2023, September 13). Global evaluations. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/global-evaluations

Hollings, D. (2024, February 24). High frustration tolerance. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/high-frustration-tolerance

Hollings, D. (n.d.). Hollings Therapy, LLC [Official website]. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/

Hollings, D. (2024, January 2). Interests and goals. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/interests-and-goals

Hollings, D. (2023, May 18). Irrational beliefs. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/irrational-beliefs

Hollings, D. (2024, April 8). It’s on you. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/it-s-on-you

Hollings, D. (2023, September 19). Life coaching. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/life-coaching

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Hollings, D. (2022, June 23). Meaningful purpose. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/meaningful-purpose

Hollings, D. (2023, September 3). On feelings. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/on-feelings

Hollings, D. (2023, November 23). Problems. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/problems

Hollings, D. (2022, March 24). Rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT). Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/rational-emotive-behavior-therapy-rebt

Hollings, D. (2022, November 1). Self-disturbance. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/self-disturbance

Hollings, D. (2022, October 7). Should, must, and ought. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/should-must-and-ought

Hollings, D. (2022, November 9). The ABC model. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/the-abc-model

Hollings, D. (2022, November 15). To don a hat. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/to-don-a-hat

Hollings, D. (2022, July 11). Unconditional acceptance. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/unconditional-acceptance

Hollings, D. (2023, October 8). You can’t sit with us! Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/you-can-t-sit-with-us

Jude Albina Sharol (Temasekjc). (2024, April 6). Student taking drugs [Image]. Playground. Retrieved from https://playground.com/post/student-taking-drugs-cluowyr4z0fgqs601th00s3d1

Matweychuk, W. J. (2021, November 23). REBT and coping with the adversities of aging. REBTDoctor. Retrieved from https://rebtdoctor.com/rebt-and-coping-with-the-adversities-of-aging/

Milea, I., Cardoş, R. A. I., and David, D. (2020, December). The map of cognitive processes in boredom: multiple mediation models. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy. Retrieved from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33323160/

Mississippi Hip Hop. (2007, July 7). Mystikal - I Smell Smoke [Video]. YouTube. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/kBtyCtxllP0?si=NYqesudnq6-8EX1Q

Mississippi Hip Hop. (2007, June 17). Mystikal - Still Smokin [Video]. YouTube. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/ReskJN1fo6Q?si=M3WYR08ufnim1piv

Wikipedia. (n.d.). Ghetto Fabulous (album). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghetto_Fabulous_(album)

Wikipedia. (n.d.). Mystikal. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystikal

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