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Boredom can lead to a whole host of unhealthy habits and activities, overeating, sleepiness, over-thinking, heavy smoking and masturbation to name a few. Those who keep busy are usually physically and/or mentally active and are generally healthier than those who are chronically bored.

But there has yet to be a conclusive scientific study on boredom to explain why we feel this way, what triggers it and why being bored can be tedious and even dangerous sometimes, like when we are bored at a job that requires us to be constantly vigilant.

Researchers tackle this subject in a study published in the newest issue of the Perspectives on Psychological Science to discover the mental processes that function (or do not function) when we feel bored.

The study notes that though boredom is often regarded as a temporary moment of discomfort, "it can also be a chronic and pervasive stressor that can have significant consequences for health and well-being," for both the self and others. 

Psychological scientist John Eastwood of York University (Ontario, Canada) and colleagues at the University of Guelph and the University of Waterloo have drawn on present and previous research to determine that boredom can be defined by "an aversive state of wanting, but being unable, to engage in satisfying activity."

The study notes that we are bored when we have difficulty staying focused to internal and external stimuli, are aware of this fact and thus blame the environment for our inactive state (i.e. "This task is boring," "I have nothing to do").

Chronic boredom is a real thing, though often seen as trivial, and researchers say that with the changing faces, easy accessibility and rapid pace of improvement associated with modern technology, people are becoming increasingly impatient and are experiencing lower attention spans.

Researchers hope that with this new definitions they will be able to develop new strategies that can ease the problems of boredom sufferers and address the potential dangers of cognitive errors that are often associated with boredom.