Why do I do this?

[lydilia]

I was up until 5 AM last night. Mostly, I was playing mahjong solitaire. I was super tired and couldn`t even concentrate on the game. I wasn`t even enjoying it. It didn`t matter if I won or lost, I just kept playing game after game, all the while feeling a bit miserable and telling myself I should really go to bed

Comments

[averagesmartguy]

I do that kinda stuff at times as well.

I read an article a while back that linked it to some kind of "searching" impulse thing that is apparently quite powerful. It was a re-look at the experiment with what concluded was a "pleasure center" in a rat brain. Dunno if that helps any, but yeah.

[superquail]

I've done that more times than I can count. I think it has something to do with how I break down actions into steps. So even though I know that going to bed would be the better choice, my brain thinks about it like "I could get up, brush my teeth, change into pajamas, set my alarm, and go to bed, OR I could click this mouse button one more time." The second option is clearly easier and if I'm already tired, I do the easier one.