"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." - Ferris Bueller, amateur philosopher.
We all know these words, or some variation of them, but not many of us take them seriously enough to do anything about it. Recently some data came to light that highlights how a busy life could present problems, and may be a symptom of other underlying issues. As it turns out, people will go to great lengths to find something to keep themselves busy in order to avoid being alone with their thoughts, even if that something else involves electrocuting ourselves!
"The pain keeps me from thinking about my failure as a person!"
The study backs up a previously held notion that people can't stand to be alone with themselves, but it also hints at a lot of other issues as well. It turns out that people are pretty critical of themselves, and will tend to harshly judge themselves when left with just their wandering mind. When the problems dredged up don't involve easy solutions, they can become recurring issues that can lead to depression. When someone is constantly busy, however, they can keep their brain busy and away from self-doubting thoughts.
It may be difficult, but in the end it turns out better if an individual is able to be comfortable with themselves in their alone time. Research has shown benefits of increased empathy to higher problem solving ability. The ability to come to terms with one's self, can make a huge difference in an individual's morale and productivity, or put more Ancient-Greeky “No one is free who has not obtained the empire of himself. No man is free who cannot command himself.” - Pythagoras