When was the last time you were completely alone with your thoughts, with no one to talk to and nothing to do? You may think you did that just this morning when driving to work, or over the weekend when you went for a jog. But chances are, you probably had some sort of stimuli, like the radio in the car, a podcast playing on your earbuds, or social media on your phone. In a study by researchers at the University of Virginia, more than half of the participants studied preferred to administer electric shocks to themselves instead of being left alone with their thoughts. We ask consultant clinical psychologist Paul Jambunathan why we find it so difficult to be with ourselves.

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