"Use distraction strategically — ignore the guilt There is a popular but poorly supported belief that unless we persistently and directly confront negative emotions after a hard change, those emotions will "rear their ugly head with greater vengeance down the line." Shankar says "the research actually shows that the story is much more complex" and that distraction — watching TV, going for a run, having a conversation with a friend — is "a very helpful, productive tool for a lot of people" when it genuinely brings joy rather than masking active suppression. She warns against adding the "additional burden that the techniques they're using aren't the right way" to process difficulty, because individual differences play a massive role. If distraction is genuinely working for you on a given day, using it is not avoidance — it is a legitimate evidence-backed coping strategy. Source: Maya Shankar, The Mel Robbins Podcast, Life Takes a Turn"