OpinionsNurse TalesMillennialspeak: FOMO

Millennialspeak: FOMO

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He has FOMO!” said my niece Jaclyn of her eight-month-old Belgian-Filipino son Louie, who was noted to have stopped what he was doing to “listen” to the conversation around him.

So somebody asked, “What is FOMO?” to which Jaclyn replied, “Fear of Missing Out.”

“In 2013, the word ‘FOMO’ was officially added to the Oxford Dictionary. This clever acronym…was coined to describe that anxious feeling that can arise when you feel there is a more exciting prospect that is happening elsewhere; unfortunately, you are not there.” — Aarti Gupta.

I am sure many of us exhibit the same mannerisms that people who have FOMO do, like scrolling through your Facebook feed first thing in the morning while sipping coffee/having breakfast, viewing photos and updates on what friends and their friends are up to: camping on a serene beach, attending a VIP wedding, celebrating a birthday party with celebrities, traveling to Europe or to Coron, being among the first-100 invited guests to a new coffee shop, or showing off diplomas or medals for sporting achievements by their children — making you green with envy.

Through the wonders of technology, your friend’s day-to-day life has somehow become part of your own. It often results in a queasy feeling of unease, prompting some to ask: “Why am I missing out on those things?”

FOMO has become pervasive in society. Teens and adults text while driving because the possibility of real-time social connection seems more urgent than life itself (or the lives of others on the road). They interrupt one call to take another, even when they do not know who is on the other line. They check their Twitter stream while on a date, because something more interesting or entertaining just might be happening. — John M. Grohol, FOMO Addiction: The Fear of Missing Out

Gupta gives us this sound advise on FOMO addiction: Face your FOMO and ultimately beat it. Here are some tips:

1) Admit you have a problem.
You can tell yourself, “I cannot be everywhere at all times and always be doing the coolest thing ever. And that’s OK.” By doing this, it seems that you have revealed your secret and acknowledged your insecurity, and thus you can tackle the problem.

2) Switch off the chatter. Turn off your phone! Readjust your schedule—do not open your phone at the breakfast table or limit your activity. A CBT (cognitive-behavioral therapy) technique prescribes setting aside a certain time of the day to check all your social media outlets. Look for a time of day that works best for you to catch up with Facebook.

3) Practice mindfulness. “Mindfulness is a therapeutic technique that refers to a nonjudgmental observation or awareness that is focused on the present experience. Instead of multitasking or hurrying up a task to get on to the next one, appreciate your current state of being. Mindfulness can help those with major FOMO enjoy what they are doing in the here and now, instead of yearning for what else could be.”

FOMO is a real feeling that’s starting to permeate through our social relationships. The question posed by Grohol is: “Will we ever settle for what we have, rather than cling to the fear that we may be missing out on something better?”

Many of us nowadays are ingesting social media and technology by taking as much as we can without thinking of the consequences. This quote is most appropriate:

“In a way, there’s an immaturity to our relationship with technology. It’s still evolving.”— Sherry Turkle, Alone Together.

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Author’s email: [email protected]

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