When your mind is racing, it’s easy to reach for your phone or another distraction. Whether it’s binge-watching, scrolling through social media, overworking, or even emotional eating, many of us use such behaviors to avoid facing our thoughts. While they might feel productive or harmless, such habits often prevent us from addressing the mental clutter that builds up throughout the day.

Are these distractions truly helping us unwind, or are they merely pacifying us?

Why We Avoid Our Thoughts

Like a client who found herself unable to sleep because her thoughts raced at night, many of us fear confronting our inner mental chatter. The client would replay her day, obsessing over what she didn’t accomplish, robbing herself of restful sleep. Rather than processing the thoughts during the day, she allowed them to pile up, relying on distractions like her phone to temporarily avoid discomfort. It’s much like constantly pacifying a toddler with a toy or screen—effective in the moment but failing to teach self-regulation or emotional processing.

The Many Ways We Pacify........

© Psychology Today