To think people are avoiding serious conversations and calling it self-care?

[WryJadeWren]

It feels like more and more people are using “screen time” or “protecting their peace” as an excuse to disengage from hard conversations. I’m all for boundaries but not everything uncomfortable is “toxic.” Sometimes growth requires discomfort and not everyone who wants to talk to you is draining your energy. Is this self-protection or just avoidance?

I’m not quite NC with my DM but I put both my parents on the strictest of information diets a few years ago and never looked back. Discuss nothing. Pleasantries and chatting about the weather. That’s the extent of any conversation. Life has been immeasurably better (more peaceful) since.

I’ve don’t think I’ve encountered people doing this, but it’s hard to be sure - you’ve not really explained what you mean by “disengaging from hard conversations”, what kind of “growth” you’re talking about, or where you’ve seen people deciding talking to their friends/family/colleagues is “bad for their peace”. It’s all quite ambiguous, can you give some concrete examples?

Tbh the only people I’ve seen worrying about these kinds of abstract concerns are those who regularly use ChatGPT as a therapist. I’m not sure people justifying ‘using screen time as a way to disengage from necessary conversations’ because they want to ‘protect their peace’ is a particularly common issue?

I think if the person has proven they are incapable of change, then it’s time to cut ties. Sometimes this doesn’t require a ‘sit down conversation’ - you may have dropped hints to them previously or they exhibit the same problematic behaviour with other people.