Why Fobo is the new social anxiety
Do you have Fobo? It sounds like a furry, adorable must-have Christmas toy. In reality, it’s a much-needed label for a very particular, painfully modern social anxiety: the Fear of Better Options.
Most of us have sloped into the kitchen and opened the fridge door, intent on eating something only to gaze at the heaving shelves in stupefied silence, before closing it again and deciding that hunger is preferable to making a decision.
Well imagine that, but for almost every aspect of your life. Conceived by Patrick McGinnis, the US venture capitalist, Fobo goes even further than its older cousin, Fomo (the Fear of Missing Out, another McGinnis coinage), in having the potential to stifle everything from dinner plans to career progression, wardrobes to new relationships.
Fobo doesn’t care whether you’re trying to make a minor decision (peanut butter or
Marmite?) or a life-changing one
– it will leave you overwhelmed by the plethora of options. So here are six signs you may be Foboafflicted.
Wouldn’t it be more nourishing for your dinner party patter if you inhaled that documentary about the dark side of Bikram yoga? But then, you just want to relax, and Friends is right there. After three hours of scrolling, it’s time for bed.
You’re always dressed for anything, and nothing
The inability to choose between a hen party, the opera and a SoulCycle class does not make for an obvious wardrobe
Fobo doesn’t care whether you’re making a minor decision (peanut butter or Marmite?) or a life-changing one.