Boredom as an important area of inquiry for occupational therapists.(Report)

Introduction

In an innovative move, boredom has been selected as a focus for research by the newly launched Research Centre for Occupation and Mental Health (RCOMH 2008). In addition, a recent editorial in this journal advocated boredom as an important subject for investigation by occupational therapists (Ilott 2007). The experience of boredom is familiar to us all and is commonly perceived as being on the increase (Mann 2007), yet it has been somewhat neglected as a topic for research to date, in particular by the occupational therapy profession. Perhaps as a consequence of this, it is poorly understood and effective ways of dealing with the experience have yet to be developed.

Research into boredom

The majority of research into boredom has been carried out by psychologists, and addresses a diverse range of issues. There are indications that boredom proneness is associated with a range of health problems and antisocial behaviour, including obesity, drug taking, aggressive behaviour and crime (Vodanovich 2003). However, there is little consensus regarding the nature of the experience, its antecedents and, in particular, the ways of dealing with boredom.

In the fields of occupational therapy and occupational science there are similarly very few studies on boredom, although it seems to be a particularly relevant issue for the profession (Martin 2002, Long 2004). Traditionally, occupational therapists have not seen their role as being to help people to occupy their time when they are bored, although other professionals might make this assumption (Long 2004). Long (2004) suggested that nurses and other health professionals have learnt not to use the word 'boredom' when referring clients to occupational therapy in order to avoid a negative reaction. Yet time after time service user surveys report that boredom is a major problem for those in the mental health system (Long 2004).

It seems to be a common perception supported …