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Escapism.
escapism • [/əˈskāpˌiz(ə)m] • noun: the tendency to seek distraction and relief from unpleasant realities, especially by seeking entertainment or engaging in fantasy.
This is my 50th article. What was a casual hobby that I started during the pandemic back in 2020 has now become one of my favorite hobbies, and conveniently, something that I always share with someone when I first meet them. Surprisingly, “I write articles in my free time, and you can too!” really comes in handy as a discussion starter.
Believe it or not, I thought long and hard about what I wanted my 50th article to be because I wanted to commemorate this moment. Last year, I wrote an article called The Negative Side of Social Media and How it Can Impact Your Life, and I discussed how one of the ways that you can step away from social media is by doing a dopamine detox, which is when you take a break from social media altogether for a specific period (usually between 2–12 weeks). At the end of the article, I promised that I would do a dopamine detox myself and share my experience via an article, so that’s exactly what I set out to do.
From the end of April to the start of June, I stopped using social media completely, and I mean everything: Reddit, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok. Believe it or not, it was amazing. At first, I would feel this itch to go back on social media, and it felt slightly uncomfortable…
