FOMO

Anxiety can take many forms. One of them is called FOMO (fear of missing out). It refers to anxiety related to not finding out about information, events or experiences. People imagine that those things might make their life better. They imagine that it might give them information relevant to discussions with others.

It can occur when a TV show is missed. It can occur when they do not get invited to an event. It can occur when they have not yet visited the hot new restaurant. 

In each of these situations, the individual views the situation as a loss. As with all losses, there is a predictable sequence. The stages are denial, anger, bargaining, mourning and acceptance. The faster one gets to acceptance, the healthier they will be mentally.

Those individuals who start brooding at one stage or another will experience an unnecessary amount of anxiety.

I have been told by relatives about how they can spend hours watching Tik Tok videos. Hours? Really? That sounds like a good way to waste time. 

The concept of FOMO was first identified in 1996 and then first published in 2000. So it is not that old. In the old days, people had to “keep up with the Joneses”. They had to have the latest item that everyone else had. Now it is keeping up with information.

FOMO can lead to a number of psychological issues. Anxiety is one that I already mentioned. Lower self-esteem can occur. Boredom and loneliness are two other characteristics. 

It can impact social relationships. It is common to go to a local store or restaurant and see individuals spending more time interacting with their cell phone than they do with the people that accompany them.

It can have financial impacts. Some people may put money into the latest investment craze only to find out that there was no sound financial reason to do so. The result is a loss of money. 

Some people need to subscribe to multiple television streaming services just to make sure they get all the latest hot shows.

Advertisers are well aware of the phenomenon. They want to make it seem that you will be missing out on something if you do not purchase their specific product.

The bottom line is that there is too much available to do everything. There will always be something you miss out on doing or seeing. You need to pick and choose things that are psychologically healthy for you. You need to avoid worrying about things that you do not do just because everyone else tells you to do so. FOMO is not a good thing to have.