By Jennifer Fiorillo
Mental Health
Jennifer Fiorillo
There was a time when the idea of watching hours of television every day never crossed my mind. I always saw it as background noise when multitasking and doing chores around the house. It was rare that I was able to sit for several hours and be interested enough to watch marathon programming.
With the availability of streaming services and the abundance of programs and content, it seems much easier to find something that can hook you in and set you off into a binge-watching coma. We now have the convenience to watch a complete season or series of our favorite shows on demand. Streaming platforms have algorithms that recommend content based on our past viewing, so there is no shortage of things to watch.
While there may be a few benefits to binge watching that include the opportunity to turn off your brain and help relieve stress, there are more health-related downsides to excessive screen time.
A loose definition of binge-watching is the viewing of two or more episodes in a series at one time. Once a person begins to increase their viewing, they experience enjoyment from whatever programs they are watching. There is an increase in the production of dopamine, a brain chemical that is associated with feelings of happiness and pleasure which can trigger cravings to binge-watch. A 2021 Netflix survey found that more than 70 percent of people who binge-watch experience positive emotions while doing it.
Research has shown that binge-watching has been linked to cognitive decline. A 2019 paper published in the journal Scientific Reports surveyed 3,000 adults age 50 and over, and it was found that those watching 3.5 hours of television or more a day experienced poor verbal memory after six years. It has also been linked to sleep problems that include insomnia, poor sleep quality and fatigue. A number of studies have highlighted the association between the illumination that is emitted by screens and how it mimics natural daylight. This can throw off a person’s sleep cycle, which only exacerbates poor sleep quality.
Other effects of binge-watching on our health can include increasing cardiovascular risk, lack of physical activity, poor eating habits and social isolation from excessive hours of screen time.
Some measures to reduce the likelihood of these poor health outcomes as a result of binge-watching revolve around limiting and monitoring its use. This can be done by replacing binge-watching with other mentally stimulating activities such as puzzles, games and exercise, using watching multiple episodes of a series as a reward for engaging in heathy behaviors, and adhering to a healthy sleep schedule and bedtime.
With winter right around the corner, binge-watching might become an appealing way to pass time and stay engaged for hours on end. As we often say, moderation is always key to maintaining a healthy balance.
Jennifer Fiorillo, MBA, MPH is the president and CEO of Bridges Healthcare in Milford, and may be reached at Jfiorillo@bridgesmilford.org.