Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice, Vol 12(3), Sep 2025, 305-324; doi:10.1037/cns0000405
In this article, I propose a novel theory to explain the possible physiological origins of the relatively mild mental pain that is often labeled as boredom and possibly loneliness or a negative mood, depending on one’s situation. My admittedly speculative hypothesis is that most people in modern societies are beset by a chronic level of diffuse nociception (DN), due to the lingering effects of past stressors. For most people, most of the time, their DN is mild enough to be kept out of conscious awareness by various distractions. However, when people are deprived of all their usual distractions, DN may enter awareness and provoke a feeling of pain without being associated with any noticeable bodily sensation to which the pain can be localized. Thus, the discomfort is experienced as mental pain. It follows that whatever can reduce DN and/or keep it out of awareness will be positively reinforced, leading to an addiction to various distractions, including mind wandering. In support of my theory, I discuss research on how the activity of well-known neural networks serves to regulate the intensity of physical, as well as mental, pain. I also discuss individual differences in DN and their relationship to boredom proneness and neuroticism. Finally, I describe how stress reactions can create DN, how psychological factors can mitigate mental pain, and how chronic stress reactions may begin early in human development. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)