Boredom could be shaving years off your life, scientists have found.

Daily Mail UK ^ | Feb 7, 2010 | Jonathan Petre

[KeyLargo]

You really can be bored to death, scientists discover

Tedium: People with dull jobs must find outside interests, experts warn

Boredom could be shaving years off your life, scientists have found.

Researchers say that people who complain of boredom are more likely to die young, and that those who experienced 'high levels' of tedium are more than two-and-a-half times as likely to die from heart disease or stroke than those satisfied with their lot.

More than 7,000 civil servants were studied over 25 years - and those who said they were bored were nearly 40 per cent more likely to have died by the end of study than those who did not.

The scientists said this could be a result of those unhappy with their lives turning to such unhealthy habits as smoking or drinking, which would cut their life expectancy.

Specialists from the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at University College London, looked at data from 7,524 civil servants aged between 35 and 55 who were interviewed between 1985 and 1988 about their levels of boredom. They then found out whether they had died by April last year.

Researcher Martin Shipley, who co-wrote the report to be published in the International Journal of Epidemiology this week, said: 'The findings on heart disease show there was sufficient evidence to say there is a link with boredom.

[KeyLargo]

AND OBAMA WANTS TO INCREASE THE SIZE OF GOVERNMENT BY CREATING MORE CIVIL SERVICE - MAKE WORK JOBS.

Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z. "Boy is this boring..."

[alexander_busek]

The scientists said this could be a result of those unhappy with their lives turning to such unhealthy habits as smoking or drinking, which would cut their life expectancy.

You'd think that the makers of this study would try to control for unhealthy lifestyles.

I would be interested in knowing how bored teatotalling non-smokers compare with teatotalling non-smokers who have "exciting" lives.

Regards,

[Bigg Red]

Maybe people who complain about boring jobs complain about everything in their lives and are pessimists. I have no patience with people who complain of boredom; the word was banned in my house when my children were growing up.

[I Buried My Guns]

If you're bored then you are probably boring.

In our household growing up we had to amuse ourselves with sticks and clay, until the day clay became prohibitively expensive.

[Bigg Red]

If you’re bored then you are probably boring.

&&&
Agree.

Someone (can’t remember who) said, “To be bored is an insult to oneself.”

[Vaduz]

If your life is boring risk it then boring won’t seem so bad agter all.

[Constitutionalist Conservative]

Despite the ridiculously unscientific methodology used here (polled 7000 civil servants 25 years ago to see if they were experiencing boredom at the time, then checked back last year to see if they had died yet), the study was accepted for publication in a prestigious peer-reviewed journal.

And here I thought that publication in a peer-reviewed journal meant the science was credible.