View the article in the publication here, pgs. 14-19. 

Escapism [Es-cap-ism] according to Google dictionary is “n. the tendency to seek distraction and relief from unpleasant realities, especially by seeking entertainment or engaging in fantasy.” More specifically by the way we live our lives, escapism is the countless hours we spend binging Netflix and scrolling through social media. Even on my saddest days, watching rom-coms on Netflix always has me laughing till my stomach hurts or leaving my heart full. Though it offers us temporary happiness when we are laughing at the on-screen scripted jokes, it robs us of quality time that could be spent reflecting on our mental health.

For the first couple of weeks at the beginning of the fall semester I was afraid to be alone. As a freshman, I do not think that I processed what it meant to be away from home, while I was in a completely new environment. Instead, I spent every hour out of class with my friends and if they were busy I would immediately open my computer and go to YouTube or Netflix; aiming to fill the void of emptiness that used to be filled by the presence of my family and closest friends.

It’s natural to feel lost or anxious when taken out of an environment familiar to you. My mistake in all of this though, was burying and blocking out all of these feelings. I chose to fill my mind with false positives through happy television shows and upbeat music. Seeing people on screen being happy allotted me a small amount of happiness. Whether or not that happiness was real is the question. I used to think that if I was laughing at all the jokes being made then I was not really all that sad.

While the digital landscape can be an excellent source of entertainment during downtime, there comes a point where it borders unhealthy behavior. A Netflix survey from 2013 found that 73 percent of users regularly watch between 2-6 episodes of a show in one sitting. From that survey, 73 percent of participants reported positive feelings associated with binge-watching. Yet the question lies in whether those positive feelings lasted after the binge-watching session ended. If we turn all of our attention on fictional characters and influencers, we ignore our own sadness and embrace the happiness of individuals we see on our screens.

I realized that that entertainment cannot serve as the only basis for our head space.

When I returned home from Thanksgiving break I was hit with a wave of sadness and stress. My sadness came from missing my family that I only got to see for a long weekend. And the stress? That was brought on by being overwhelmed by emotions and not having time to deal with them because of finals. I attempted to just watch an episode of “New Girl” to get my mind off of it but the second it was over, my mind was still all over the place. So I tried something else, something that would relax me but still make me present in the moment- writing.

I just started jotting down how I was feeling, things that I wanted to do that week, plans for the weekend- I allowed my thoughts to bleed onto the page. Releasing those feelings made my mind feel free and relaxed. That same night I facetimed my little cousins back home and their laughs and smiles brought me real happiness that stayed long after I hung up. It felt good to actively play a role in my own happiness and mental health rather than passively letting the digital landscape control it.

From then on I began to notice when I was turning to my screen for entertainment versus when I was turning to them to escape. Being able to make that distinction has helped me gain a better grasp on my mental health, allowing me to change my headspace.

Because we live in a screen based society it is easy to make our happiness reliant on so many outside factors. But through my experience, I find that I am happiest when I am aware and in control of my mental state. Doing things in the real world like writing, playing with makeup, and being part of clubs brings me lasting happiness - rather than zoning out to vlogs, movies, or TikToks.

Social media was created to connect people locally and globally, but in recent years there’s been a shift in the digital landscape to a more escapist based function. So instead of turning to the digital environment for escapism, I try to use the digital environment to my advantage. I use apps like Instagram to create mood boards of future aspirations, using Snapchat and other messaging apps to connect with friends and family, using Netflix as a means to host movie nights, and so much more. But above all, I make sure that my mental health comes first, and that I am in control of my happiness and not the fictional characters on my screen.