Fear of missing out (FOMO) is a psychological term used by psychologists to describe a specific marketing system and phenomenon commonly used in video games. In medical practices, FOMO is described as a situation when someone wants to continuously follow what others are doing. Furthermore, video games like Valorant and Fortnite encourage these negative feelings because their item shops are always in rotation which limits the choices of desired skins from the players. Therefore, this may entice the players to make more spontaneous purchases because of the fear of missing an opportunity to buy something.
In addition, according to the National Institutes of Health, FOMO is typically linked to negative experiences and feelings because of its large attachment to social media. There have been multiple studies by researches that have discovered a major link between FOMO and mental health. An example of the connections between FOMO and mental health is the depression, stress, and anxiety developed from FOMO. Also, FOMO is often associated with loneliness and solitude because the term is used when an individual fears missing out on positive experiences with others. Moreover, it has been discovered that FOMO can lead to an increased feeling of loneliness. However, this increase in loneliness can vary between the persons.
Fear of missing out can influence your connections and relationships with others negatively. This may also affect one’s self-esteem because they always compare another person’s experience with their own since they wish they could do what they other is doing. However, because of social media, people are constantly feeling the effects of FOMO. This is because most people will think that they are missing out on fun or entertaining experiences.
While social media does play a major role in introducing and increasing the intensity of FOMO, it is not the only trigger to FOMO. It can be anything as simple as a video game shop. To help prevent FOMO from building up, people should think about what they have and feel more positive with what they have, rather than comparing themselves to others. By changing one’s mentality, someone can limit the intensity of FOMO and negative feelings form their life.
Related Stories:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8283615/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10150542/
https://health.clevelandclinic.org/understanding-fomo
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