Black FOMO

Every High Street is awash with posters & signs in the window. TV & Radio are saturated with supposedly ‘Special’ offers and you cannot check your social media without being bombarded news about discounted goods you never knew you needed.

Our ‘FOMO’ – Fear Of Missing Out – is a trait that merchandisers know can exploited to sell goods. Few of us want to feel like we’ve missed out on a good deal and so, even though there may be nothing in particular we actually need or want at this moment in time, a shiny new discounted dangling-carrot can seem very appealing, even if we don’t like carrots.

FOMO is usually associated with fixations on Social Media whereby an individual experiences something like an anxiety response to being away from their social media feeds, which gives some a sense of not being up to date with information and news about the outside world; The sense that maybe others are away having lots of fun, being successful somehow, or just in on the latest thing, while you’re not, because you’re not connected.

Social Media can also provide a false impression, a distorted view of the lives of others. For example, if you post several holiday pictures on Facebook over a period of time, it can create the impression that you’re away travelling or on holiday more frequently than is actually the case. In response, some feel a sense of pressure from that distorted impression, to keep up or create a mental environment ripe for cultivating resentment.

But remember that the ‘F’ in FOMO stands for ‘Fear’. And companies know that human emotions are exploitable. For example, an advertising pitch like ‘while stocks last’ creates the impression that you need to act now to secure the deal because if you leave it, you might be too late. It’s a call to act sooner rather than later, and preferebly now.

We’re all susceptible to this and ‘FOMO’ can affect any one of us. So, here’s how we avoid being exploited:

1. Be Self-aware. Take note of emotional or physical reactions to ads or social media feeds. If something triggers you in a certain way, take a moment to step back from the stimulus and experience whatever is going on, internally. Ask yourself questions like, what am I feeling, where, when, how, and why.
2. Be informed. Is the information in front of you what it seems to be. Perhaps the new gadget does seem like a wonderful idea, but is it really the life-changing device it claims to be? Will it really be everything you want it to be or will it quickly find its way to the back of a cupboard where it will sit for an eon before being rediscovered, covered in dust and leaving you wondering why you ever bought it in the first place.
3. Give yourself time. Despite the calls to act immediately and buy at such & such a price while you can, don’t be rushed into buying anything you hadn’t previously planned to.
4. Change your focus. Deliberately switch your attention away from the goods & services that are tempting you and connect with others. Meet & speak with friends and family. Focus on human relationships rather than relationships with material goods.
5. Develop gratitude. Look at what you already have in life. Is a new trinket going to make things any better?
6. Avoid & distract. Detox if you want to call it that. Take a time out from the sources of temptation. If your social media feed is full of black Friday ads, try a digital detox.

If you would like to talk about any mental health issue please call 0899420568, email help@broadmindstherapy.org for a free, private, confidential & discrete discussion. You can also visit our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/jpbroad for more information.

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