School Details:

Name of the School: St. Mark’s Sr. Sec. Public School,

Meera Bagh
Principal Ms. Anjali Aggarwal
Teacher - Ms. Geeta Rajan
Postal address of the school: A BLOCK, MEERA BAGH, NEW
DELHI 110087
Telephone (School) 011 25262056

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 C E RT I F I C AT E O F
C ECROTM
I FPILCEATTIEO O
N F
COMPLETION

This is to certify that the following students have

successfully completed their project on the topic
“ESACAPISM IS A WAY OF LIFE.”

SIGNATURE

DATE

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 T E A M D E TA I L S

CLASS: XII-F

TEAM MEMEBERS:
Lakshay Mahajan
Ishita Goel
Nitya Mahajan
Prithika Ghosh
Sakshi Bansal
Tamnna Mohan

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SNo. Topic Page no.

01 Acknowledgement
IIN N DD EE XX
02 Statement of Purpose

03 Action Plan

04 Testimonies

05 Report

06 Reflection

07 Picture Gallery

08 Bibliography

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We would like to express our special thanks of

gratitude to our teacher Ms. Geeta Rajan, who gave
us the golden opportunity to make this project
synopsis.
It helped us in doing a lot of research, helped our
creative side and enhanced our learning-based
application skills.
We would also take this opportunity to thank our
friends and family who helped us a lot in finalizing this
project within the limited time frame.

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 S TAT E M E N T O F
PURPOSE

Escapism relates to self-help, self-care, and coping. It’s allowing

yourself to disengage from your problem briefly to re-energize,
have a break, and prevent emotional exhaustion. Escapism is an
Everyone emotional vacation. Many escapes by turning off social media,
distancing themselves from loved ones, or immersing themselves in

deserves another activity. However, it is important to understand the difference

between escapism and avoidance. Avoiding the problem is not beneficial
and can result in poor coping mechanisms. Avoidance is ignoring the
an problem. Escapism doesn’t do that. Escapism is momentary. It is a
respite, not a way of life. The world needs a bit of escapism.

escape, Sometimes it’s just so helpful to shut off the hard parts of life and get lost
in something else.

and yours
can be
whatever Aim to return from your escape refreshed. Use that wonderful period of
relief to make yourself stronger, not to disconnect further.. Escapism is
you need important because it allows a brief moment of self-care and an
emotional break. It reminds us that we can still feel happy and
hopeful and passionate about life. Yes, a book or a song can do that.
it to be. And, in difficult times, that can be hard to remember. Escapism is
different things to different people, and there is no such thing as ‘basic’
escapism. It is what it is. It’s reading about Hollywood gossip instead of
the news. It’s going to a movie to laugh when you’re feeling depressed.
It’s spending a night with friends when you’re feeling alone. It’s escaping
into the world of a book when it feels like your real life is a scene in the
Upside Down.

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ACTION PL AN

PAGE 7
 W
W HHA
WH AAT
TT IIISSS E
EESSSC
CCA
AAP
PPIIISSSM
MM??

DEFINITION
We don’t
create a Escapism is mental diversion from
unpleasant or boring aspects of daily
fantasy life, typically through activities
world to involving imagination or
escape entertainment. Escapism may be used
to occupy oneself away from
reality, we persistent feelings of depression or
create it to general sadness
be able to
stay
--
In technical terms it is described as ‘The
Lynda tendency to seek, or the practice of
Barry seeking, distraction from what normally
has to be endured’.
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PAGE 9
 Listening to the endless tones
Some people just ranging from Sufi & jazz to
These pandemic
like to sit back have heavy mettle and EDM just
times have induced
a cup of coffee and jettisons all our worries of
in all of us a new
drown themselves this material world.
vigour for exercise
into the magical and being active.
world of books Some of us just like
where anything is to lose ourselves in
possible and
everything is a
EXERCISIN
pumping down
those reps
mystery G

FORMS OF
ESCAPISM

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 LISTENING TO
MUSIC

READING A EXERCISIN
BOOK G

This is one of
the oldest and
most reliable
method of
escapism. It
clears your
mind of all the
MEDITATING worldly worries
and as an added
benefit steadies
ALCOHOL your mental
CIGARETTES
These substances are AND
what one can strength
call the tools for running from one’s
DRUGSThey magically transport
problems.
you to another world but at the huge
cost of your consciousness

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 CASE STUDY

Edward Anon wasn’t happy with who he was, he wasn’t

C even comfortable in his own skin, so he tried to find a way
of escape, for him it was smoking cannabis. Others could

A take it or leave it, but he couldn’t, and he would steal for it,
lie, and manipulate. The progression to cocaine didn't take
long.
S
E By 18, he was smoking pot at least weekly. At first it was
fun and confidence-building for him. He would take it on
1 every social occasion. As he went through his early twenties,
his usage got heavier. The stress of running his own business
also made him need a release, and the only way he knew
back then, was to get high.

The only feeling that he could remember was of being isolated .

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Edward’s story is a fine example of a
paradox wherein while trying to fill the
empty hole inside him, he unknowingly
dug so deep that it became an
unfathomable abyss. An abyss where no
one could reach, leaving him ever more
depressed. In complete contrast to this,
we look at the story of another unique
individual who was successful in finding
the perfect balance between escapism and
the real world, henceforth experiencing
the blissful aspect of escapism.

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 CASE STUDY

C Johnny Wilson, an inspiring photographer, actually began

his journey by stumbling upon photography as his only
means of escapism. It was in 2005 that he had recently left
A college and was stressed with the increasingly high level of
responsibilities and pressure workloads as he shifted from
job to job.
S
E Although photography was simply a hobby at the time, it
was the one thing that helped him manage his anxiety and
2 not get sucked into a continuous spiral of depression. It
was the one thing that he could look forward to after a
taxing day at his job. Today as well, he takes photographic
holidays and makes sure to find some time to just clear
everything from his mind and concentrate on creating
photos

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Having something outside of work to
channel his creative energy into, has really
helped him deal with the anxiety brought
on by the high pressure and stress that
comes with his day job. Without having
photography to turn to, he has no idea what
else he would do to manage.

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 I ISS EESSCCAAPPI ISSMM BGEO
TOT EDR
F O R H E A LT H ?

“Instead of One important aspect of emotional intelligence is knowing

venting when to engage with an emotion vs. when to disengage
from an emotion. By changing how we respond to our
your feelings, we can exercise more effective self-regulation and
emotional management. While often it is healthy to accept
emotions, your emotions, reflect on them, and release them,
sometimes it’s healthy for you to avoid an emotion, or
sometimes distract yourself from an emotion, or actively shift your
awareness toward a different kind of emotional experience.
it’s better to This is because emotions can take on a cyclical and self-

shift your fulfilling form.

awareness
toward There’s a point where the more you indulge in sadness, or
something anger, or grief, the more you’re conditioning those wirings in
the brain that trigger those emotions, which makes you
different. more susceptible to continue to experience those emotions
in the future.
This is the There’s a popular theory in psychology called catharsis,

power of which is basically the idea that you just need to express
yourself to “release” negative emotions. However, recent
“healthy studies have shown that sometimes this emotional release
strengthens the emotion and makes it worse.
escapism.”
PAGE 16
For example, in one study published in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin,
individuals who hit a punching bag as a way to “blow off steam” actually reported
greater levels of anger afterwards than individuals who thought about going to the gym
(a form of “distraction”), or individuals who did nothing at all. And in another study
published in Current Biology, it was found that “distraction” can be an effective way to
reduce pain. Interestingly, this is why virtual reality for pain management has become
an increasingly more popular tool during certain medical procedures.

Instead of venting your negative emotions, sometimes it is better to just shift your
awareness toward something completely different to allow yourself to “cool down” and
temporarily forget about your troubles.

In many ways, this is the powerful

role that entertainment plays in
our lives. It is a way to escape
from the stress, anxiety, and
negativity of our everyday lives –
and sometimes that is what we
need to stay sane and healthy.
These forms of distraction can be
helpful in small doses. Our minds
have an awesome ability to
temporarily “disconnect” from
our real-world troubles and give
ourselves a much-needed break.

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 WHY DO PEOPLE
PREFFER ESCAPISM?

Escapism is a phase everyone goes through in life. We all

like to escape, it’s our instinct.
“No living When given the option of “Fight or Flight”, flight seems to
be the easy option. Why won’t it? It’s comfortable and less
organism emotionally exhausting whereas fight is facing the reality.

can Escapism is an unchallenging flee, to relax, to find comfort,

to move away from the crazy reality even if for a few
continue minutes.

for long to
exist People prefer daydreaming. Making fake scenarios, being in

sanely a world you don’t have to care about responsibilities or the

truck load of work pending or even getting hurt, it becomes
under your happy place. Even if a part of you knows it’s just a
mirage but what’s the harm in a few moments where
conditions suddenly the world goes quiet and you feel safe in your own
mind.
of absolute Escapism allows us to travel to a preferable world where we
reality.” can dissociate with our imperfect selves and pretend to be
someone we are not.

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Possible reasons why a person would engage in
escapism is that they:
1. suffer from depression. People who are
depressed may experience no pleasure in life
and take their life as boring.
2. have suffered or are suffering from a
traumatic experience. Sometimes, people
who are traumatised wants to escape and not
feel the pain they may suffer, which often
results in denial.
3. feel like they are lacking something. In
that feeling people are always in search of
something external and escapism offers a
temporary relief from it.
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 HARMFUL EFFECTS

Too much of escapism is bad when it turns into a habit of

avoiding. People start avoiding the reality, the challenges
“People which lead to a better life. They tend to procrastinate which
in turn affects their professional growth. They stop
love communicating which affects our personal life. We start to
grow apart from our loved ones and a constant feeling of
escapism emptiness and loneliness is there. The more time they spend
in the fantasy world, the lesser energy they have to enjoy the
and there real one. Not dealing with our issues and instead leaning
towards escapism to avoid them, they could be at risk of
should be a developing high level of depression symptoms.

place for it,

but For some people drugs are a way of escapism. They don’t
everything. realize until it’s too late that drugs can take away a lot. It
wrecks their skin, their life, their family. Drugs have varied
” and serious direct physical and psychological consequences
such as anxiety, depression, abnormal body sensation,
seizures, suicidal behaviors and even sudden death.

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 E S S AY

LINK TO OUR SURVEY: https://forms.gle/Vhx2QSpyjqmE8v9q8

“People
love
escapism
and there
should be a
place for it,
but
everything.
”

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