Ted Schwalm has two addictions — roller coasters and concerts.

This summer he rode 110 coasters in 10 days. During that 10-day period he drove 3,700 miles, including one all-night drive from Hershey Park in Pennsylvania to Toronto, Canada.

Schwalm, who lives in Rehoboth, Del., admits that many people don’t understand his obsession with roller coasters, but for him it’s a way to get away from boredom. Coaster riding gives him an escape when life becomes too mundane.

“It’s exciting,” he said. “It provides an excitement in an otherwise boring town. It’s just a thrill.”

Many people like Schwalm find innovative ways to rid themselves of the feeling, but don’t ask people to talk about being bored because most won’t.

It’s a taboo topic, which is rarely studied by mainstream institutions, said Augustin de la Peña, a psychophysiologist and Board Certified Sleep Specialist working at Pulmonary and Sleep Center of the Valley in Weslaco and Edinburg, whose research focuses on the consequences of boredom.

But even though people don’t like to talk about being bored, the reality is most people experience boredom at some point every day, de la Peña said. For some people the feeling lasts just a few minutes, for others it’s a constant presence.

There are strong correlations between boredom and a host of psychological and physical problems. Problems include alcohol and drug abuse, insomnia, over-eating, anti-social behavior and violence.

“There is a definite link between boredom, depression, marital stress, etc.,” said Norman Hoffman, of The Hoffman Institute, a non-profit organization that examines and helps elicit human potential, in an e-mail.

He uses the illustration of men and retirement.

“Initially they are very positive, happy and excited about the prospect of having unstructured days ahead (retirement) and seek the ‘adventure’ of what the future may hold. Unfortunately, what they can expect is loss of identity, goalless behavior and objectives in the form of waiting for the mail, early bird dinners and mindless activities.”

That boredom can then lead to conflict within the marriage, which can cause serious and sometimes tragic consequences, Hoffman said.

Research shows that people are becoming more and more bored.

The human mind looks for things that are new and different and becomes excited by the uniqueness of experiences and sensations.

“Gradually, our minds turn off things that we are exposed to often,” de la Peña said. “Think of all the things you do every day—most of that is done on automatic pilot.”

Since most of the time the brain works on automatic pilot people often become bored with what’s around them.

“The normal brain… tunes out whatever is constant and just tunes in to whatever is new,” de la Peña said.

As society develops and becomes more sophisticated, it also becomes more predictable and more boring, de la Peña said.

“We have so much boredom it’s like a fish swimming in water, we’re always running from it, de la Peña said. “We have to play with more and more toys in order to stay interested.”

Because of advances in technology, machines and computers do much of the work that people used to do; therefore the conscious brain has much more free time, which leads to feelings of boredom, de la Peña said.

“The average person can no longer stand the emptiness when there’s nothing to do,” de la Peña said.

So people buy and change things - new cars, new clothes, new spouses, new houses. They go on vacation, they change jobs, they bungee-jump, and some go so far as to pay people to kidnap them. People will do almost anything to rid themselves of boredom.

Eddie Flores plays paintball.

The owner of McAllen Paintball and a former professional paintballer, says the game helps keep both his mind and body active - and wards off feelings of boredom..

“I’ve played paintball for about 10 years,” he said. “It’s a good way to release stress. It’s an adrenaline rush. It definitely does help with boredom.”

Lack of Passion

Some of that boredom comes from a lack of passion in our culture and society, said Jen Groover, a national creativity and innovation expert, based in Philadelphia and the writer of the blog whatifandwhynot.com.

She believes that schools have weaned people away from creativity and inspiration, because of the high importance place on knowing facts but not discovering knowledge. It’s the act of discovery and creativity that breeds inspiration, which she says creates a “high.”

That “high” makes people continue to look for the next discovery and mitigates boredom, Groover said.

But without inspiration and passion, Groover believes people become consumed by boredom.

“Boredom is something that’s spiraling out of control,” Groover said. “We as a society are filled with walking zombies.”

In a recent speech Groover asked participants to raise their hands if they were unhappy or bored in their jobs. Eighty -five percent of the participants raised their hands.

Boredom correlates with job burnout, said Pamela Garcy, a clinical psychologist and author of The Power of Inner Guidance: Seven Steps to Tune In and Turn On. “People with job burnout tend to have a much greater risk of developing health problems, such as diabetes.”

Finding Passion

But boredom doesn’t have to turn society into zombies. Making changes to a person’s environment and the way a person perceives their environment can do a lot to reduce feelings of boredom.

De la Peña recommends fighting boredom by becoming more aware of sensations. What does walking feel like? What muscles are moving? Think about the sensation of a foot hitting pavement.

Meditation can also work to shut off the analytical part of the brain and make a person more aware of the senses and breathing. Exercise helps the body reduce boredom for some people, he said. New and different activities can also alleviate the feeling.

In her speeches, Groover speaks about finding passion to reduce boredom.

“If people don’t know what passion feels like, they don’t know they could achieve it and that’s a problem,” Groover said.

Groover asks people to questions their environment by asking the question “what if?” By constantly questioning the environment around them, people begin to become more in tune with their surroundings and begin to find more creative solutions to problems.

Bored people should also make plans to change what bores them. “Figure out what you’re passionate about,” she said. And then surround yourself with people who follow their passions. You have to have a dream. You’ve got to find that inner passion.”

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Paige Lauren Deiner covers features and entertainment for The Monitor. You can reach her at (956) 683-4425. For this and other local stories, visit www.themonitor.com.