10 Unhealthy Obsessions That Are Ruining Your Life

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There is a fine line between being interested in something and being obsessed with it. Many times, these obsessions can become unhealthy and have a negative impact on our lives. So, do you have any unhealthy obsessions? I love a good conspiracy theory. It’s not that I think they are true or not. It’s more about the story and connecting the dots to come to a conclusion. After someone asked a popular online forum for other examples, the internet responded to deliver this list.

#10. An Obsession With Sports to the Point of Anger, Violence, and Property Damage

People love sports. But some people take their love a little too far by getting angry and even violent. One person said, “Hey, I love my own teams, but if you are rioting following a victory or loss by your team, then it is time to seek counseling.”

Another person responded, “I’m a self proclaimed fair weather fan. I generally don’t watch sports at all, but if any of my State’s local teams start making a good run, I may get engaged and watch some. It blows my mind that people’s days are ruined when their team loses. Or maybe they punch a wall or destroy some other property. Or even worse, get in a physical fight with some other fan from an opposing team. These people need something more meaningful in their lives. They are getting more upset than the actual members of the team. Pathetic.”

#9. Obsession with Electronics 

Some people pointed out an obsession with electronics, specifically phones. One person made the excellent point that it is important to be bored sometimes. “It’s one thing to keep yourself busy, it’s another to never let yourself be bored. Being bored is important sometimes, it makes you think/helps clear your head. Phones make it ridiculously easy to never let yourself get bored, to the point where it ain’t healthy.”

Another mentioned their realization and responded to another commenter doing the same, “Same here… I go to work, look at a screen. Come home, TV with dinner, then computer gaming, then workout, then TV. Go to the bathroom, wait for the shower water to heat up, not sure what else to do in that moment? Phone. I don’t look at a screen when I’m driving, exercising, or trying to sleep. It’s made me very explicitly give up on anything in life because I’m so sick of feeling stressed and anxious that I’ll accept never doing anything different because I feel it doesn’t change anything for the better and only adds stress. I’m not sure how to change this.”

#8. Workaholism and Productivity

With being connected 24 hours a day, seven days a week, the idea of work-life balance has become a work all the time and squeeze in personal life in between. As one person says, “Work/productivity. Everybody needs a break, not just every once in a while, but often.”

Someone else pointed out an observation they made at work. “Almost everyone in my office grabs there lunch and eats at their desk while working. Like you literally get hour and a half breaks if you want what are you doing lol. And no one here does it to leave an hour earlier.”

Another person talked about this in their workplace and why it bothers them so much, “My biggest peeve with people always working through lunch when they don’t have to is that it makes me look lazy for not working through my own lunch despite not being paid for that hour. Why do people do that? Go outside for a walk or something, get away from the computer for a minute while you can!!”

#7. Always Being in a Relationship

Do you know someone who is always in a relationship? When one ends, they jump into the next one without any time to spare. Psychologists call these people serial monogamists. These relationships could be short or long-term but usually err on the shorter side. 

One person calls these pointless relationships. “Settling for less just because you think you can’t be alone is not healthy.” Another person added, “It’s just a waste of everyone’s time. Yours and your partners included. They may not see anything wrong (or are delusional) and break up out of left field. And everyone will feel cheated out of their time.”

#6. Trying to Beat Everyone at Everything

This shows up in many areas of life, but one person noted that they often see it when driving. “People with the ‘I need to be first, I’m in a rush because my life is more important’ while driving bugs me so much, particularly when you end up pulling back up with them because they hit the same red light or stop sign, etc. I’ve literally seen people weave in and out of traffic, gunning it 15 to 20 over whenever they had space to do so, only for me to be right behind them again 30 seconds later. Their efforts made no difference to how fast they were getting where they were going and exponentially more dangerous.”

Another person admitted to this type of behavior. “I’m guilty of this and trying to make it less of a factor in my life. Driving is the worst, but I even find myself doing it in the grocery store, anywhere there’s a queue. Big realization for me is that it’s not the need to be first or best, but it comes from operating on the assumption that other people are insufficient. It’s an unhealthy worldview, it’s narcissistic, and it can be outright dangerous.”

Another person has the perfect response for these people, “It’s okay if you beat me to the pump, or if you beat me to the grocery checkout line. It’s okay if you get to the freeway exit before me, or pull in front of me on the highway. I’m patient, and it’s a virtue.”

#5. Obsessions with Each Other’s Lives

Being nosy and sticking your nose in other people’s business rubs many the wrong way. One person said, “Seriously just let people live as long as they’re not hurting anyone just leave people alone.”

Another person added, “I don’t care what or who you are. Just be a decent person and don’t try to meddle with my life and we’ll be cool.”

Someone else said, “live and let live and this world would be a much more peaceful, happy place.”

Related: Learn how to get your crap together

#4. Being Obsessed with Youth

A shared obsession in today’s society is the need to look young. “People are obsessed with youth and some people will do anything to maintain its appearance.”

One person made an excellent point, saying, “the ironic part is that a lot of the things people do to make themselves look younger and better just makes them look worse.”

Another person experiences this phenomenon all the time. “I live in LA. I work somewhat connected to the entertainment industry. More times than I can enumerate, stunning women (and a number of great looking men) have slowly distorted their faces and figures into oblivion. In the span of 18 months, many are entirely unrecognizable. Literally. I’ve gone to events, bumped into people and I didn’t know who they were until I heard their voice. They start looking like this homogeneous mass of the altered.”

#3. An Obsession with Celebrities 

Being obsessed with everything celebrity related is a big red flag for many people. One person has a great take on this topic. “From what I’ve seen of influencers/streamers they seems to fill a role of friend/friendship to a lot of people who don’t actually have any friends in their normal life. These guys fill in that gap and let you feel like you know them as a people since they’re always posting their life online. Just seems like a new way to have interpersonal social relationships. Granted I never watch mainstream streamers or use Instagram/TikTok so probably a bit different from those type of followers.”

Another person made this observation. “Inclusive of influencers, streamers, and any other random person with a webcam. We get mad at narcissism but go out of our way to throw money at these folks. Not everybody needs to be a brand. The overwhelming majority of us are just plain, ordinary humans – and that’s ok.”

#2. The 24-Hour News Cycle

While CNN debuted in 1980 as a 24-hour news channel, the obsession over the news didn’t materialize until the mid-1990s and the OJ Simpson trial. 

One noted, “It’s good to stay involved and informed but if people would just turn off the news I feel like 90% of our culture war would disappear overnight and we could focus on the real issues.”

Another person chimed in with, “The way the media is set up now a days it’s hard. Denzel said it best. If you don’t read the news you’re uninformed, if you do read the news you’re misinformed. In our society, now it’s just first — who cares, get it out there. We don’t care who it hurts. We don’t care who we destroy. We don’t care if it’s true. Just say it, sell it. Anything you practice you’ll get good at — including BS.”

Another person puts a ribbon on the topic with “24 hour current events opinion cycles. Let’s be real, most modern ‘news’ gives an ounce of data/facts to every pound of opinion. Far too many people watching that stuff don’t want to come to their own conclusions about what happened, they want a headline and to then be told how they should feel about it.

We need to enact a law that all ‘reporting’ should have a constant disclaimer that it’s NOT news, it’s opinion/propaganda. The only time they should be allowed to call it news is if the show/segment is presenting info/facts, and no commentary is allowed. THAT is news, everything else is just trying to frame news through the lens of an agenda.”

#1. Social Media Obsession

By far, the obsession with social media was the most popular response given. Being on social media robs you of your wealth, time, and even chances how you look at the world.

One person talked about his experience with someone in the family who had this obsession, “A friend of mine’s mother almost spends every waking hour on Facebook and Instagram. She is constantly updating the world on her life. My friend has had to stop sending her pics of his children because they would immediately end up on her Facebook. She has fallen for a number of scams – thankfully stopped by friend before she lost money. It seems the only source of validation in her life are the upvotes and likes of friends, relatives and strangers.”

Another person added, “Those people’s identities are so wrapped up in their online presence they think that not having one means you have no identity at all. No personality. No connection with friends. No relatability to society. It’s like saying you don’t have a drivers license or birth certificate. You must be hiding something. It’s sad that it’s come to this.”

This thread inspired this post.

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