Over-Stimulation

By James Rudy Gray

There seems to be a new addiction that is sweeping our land. It leaves people numb, bored, and often depressed. What is it?  Over-stimulation.

People today run with a much faster pace of life than generations before us. We are not just busy—we are busy craving pleasure. Like the ancient Epicureans, the motto of many is “Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die.” While God has given us life to enjoy and pleasure itself is not a sin, the addiction to it is.

 Dr. Archibald Hart believes the church is contributing to this problem. He writes, “There has been a subtle shift in the last decade or so toward more of a stimulant driven spirituality.” With the proliferation of high tech communication, education, and entertainment, we have become more dependent on excitement. This leads to needing more excitement. Soon, a person is burned out.

 The overuse and abuse of the internet has been a major culprit in this downward spiral. The things we have come to rely on so heavily in this culture are the very things that become the tools of our undoing. As Hart writes, “There is no downtime. That’s the problem. The system is even designed to make you feel guilty or lazy if you attempt to rest.” He says the key is to find a way to maximize your God-given ability to enjoy pleasure without overloading it.

 What is the cure to this addictive and destructive cycle? Hart suggests such things as talking to a family member, walking the dog, doing chores, learning a musical instrument or foreign language, writing a story, exercising, playing simple outdoor sports,…or just thinking.

The phenomenon that we are seeing today is the shutting down of our pleasure system because of too much pleasure. There is a new generation in America that professes to be relationship-driven. However, it is a new kind of relationship they have created. Connections are built and maintained, not on the basis of God’s truth and moral absolutes, but on a strong appetite for fulfillment, stimulation, and pleasure. This appetite is fed through the tools of technology which are not in themselves bad but produce a bad result when they become the instruments of over-stimulation.

What can be done? A person needs time to pray, meditate, and relax. People should work, but they should also relax. I recently counseled a couple whose marriage is failing—they are burned out. He has become an internet game addict, and she is searching for something more.  Both have given up hope of renewing their marriage. Both claim to be Christians, but neither one is following the counsel of Jesus in Matthew 6:33 to “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness.” 

People can change. We must have God as our source in order to do it most effectively, but people can change. I think most over-stimulated believers (whether workaholics or pleasure addicts) can make some needed changes if they learn the lesson of the harvester ant mentioned in  Proverbs 6:6. These ants are extremely busy creatures. They are active and productive. However, God has designed them to take an annual hibernation, and when they hibernate, they rest. This cycle of work and hibernation brings balance into their existence.