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I saw a dark academia social media post recently on how humans

are obsessed with escapism, which is when we divert our

consciousness to another reality - one that is not our reality. It

could be argued that we take any chance we get to jump into

another life, a world where we can be free of that sense of
- SHALINI SIBY,
- SHALINI SIB Y ,

BPSY, YEAR 1
BPSY , Y EAR 1 identity that haunts us so. We see it in how we drown ourselves in
the books, movies, art and music the human orb has amassed over

the centuries. We see it in the elaborate daydreams and fantasies

we can’t seem to let go of. These are more of the good things in life

though. We can also see it in how people attempt to cut their lives

short, with a knife or a noose. In how they turn to pills and drinks

and smoke to become part of the haze. Tone it down a little, and

we can still see it all around us. In teenagers who binge eat when

they feel overwhelmed. In those who pick fights all day to feel

nothing but the pain. In almost dysfunctional cases of sexual

masochism where the abuse beats out any possibility of holding

onto a healthy sense of self.

Why do we feel this fervent and almost frantic need to escape?

Renowned psychologist and father of psychoanalysis, Sigmund

Freud, says that humans cannot survive on the gratification their

limited existence offers. We need more narratives, more

constructs, more meaning. We simply need more than what our

reality can give us.

It makes you wonder, maybe our souls were just not made for this

world. Maybe, we’re supposed to be floating among the stars and

gazing down on whoever else was supposed to take our place here

on Earth. Or perhaps, we become who we are meant to be in our

escapes and our real lives are just a painful distraction that we are

chained to.

C O NTENT S