Many people joke about being addicted to a Tv show, but it is it possible that you are?
Though it is not officially recognized as a disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Internet Addiction disorder is prevalence in the current is staggering. Some reports suggest it affects up to 38% of the general population of the world. If you are constantly on the internet; playing video games, online shopping, or physically can’t stop cheeking your social media, or constantly on Netflix this maybe you. Though if you’re like me and you use the Internet a lot of YouTube videos, shop online frequently, or like to check social media does not mean you suffer from Internet Addiction Disorder. The trouble comes when these activities start to interfere with your daily life. Internet Addiction Disorder is subdivided into varying categories. The most commonly identified categories of Internet Addiction include gaming, social networking, email, blogging, online shopping, and inappropriate Internet pornography use. Other researchers suggest that it is not the amount of time spent on the Internet that is particularly troublesome – rather, it is how the Internet is being used.
Click the button, that red rectangle button which comes up at the end of watching an episode to continue watching clicking it is almost automatic in your brain but why can’t we resist. The makers of Tv shows us cliffhangers at the end of an episode to make us want to know what happen next, to make us want to click that red button. Tv show writers often use violence at the end of an episode, which plays on our emotions and makes us want to know whether the character will be alright. Tv shows also keep us intrigued and watching using stress, they put the characters in difficult situations, whether it be a new character coming in, a new problem or like I said before violence. Have you ever thought after finishing a season yes, I am finally finished this season or yes I am finally ahead of my sister? When we watch Tv shows we tend to feel a sense of accomplishment after finishing a season or getting up to certain spot compare to someone else. This “sense of accomplishment” makes us want to continue watching, the thought of only having 5 episodes left of the season of the fact that you best friend is 2 episodes ahead of you, makes you want to keep going and when to reach the point where to aim to be (goal) then you feel accomplished. But once you to feel accomplished, reached that point another goal another aim comes along and you keeping watching.This feeling of accomplishment is addictive and keeps people watching.
There is no easy way to just get rid of the need to watch TV and there is no reason to completely stop watching it you just need to minimise the amount you watch. The first step to controlling the addiction is to realize that television is stealing your life, that you are spending do many unnecessary hours watching Tv shows. Most of the shows you are watching you will find have no meaning and will not impact your life and only watching it for the sake of it. The next step is to monitor and track how much time you waste on the TV, you will be surprised what it adds up to. This needs to be minimised. It has been proven that every single hour of television watched after the age of 25 reduces your life expectancy by 21.8 minutes. Then you need to develop a sense of purpose and a goal (within Tv of course). For example, set a time limit on tv, such as 1 hour a day or say one episode of a tv show a day, this is the hardest part especially when that big red button comes up again saying “click me, click me”. Next you need to find alternatives to watching television. “Human beings are teleological creatures. We are hard-wired to live purposively, to have direction. Without a target to shoot at, our lives are literally aimless. Without something productive to do, without positive goals and a purpose, a human being languishes. And then one of two things happens. Aimlessness begins to shut a person down in spiritual lethargy and emptiness, or the individual lashes out and turns to destructive goals just to make something happen.” - Tom Morris (philosopher). As humans we like to always have something to do so instead of watching tv try to, Get outdoors and go for a hike or bike ride around, maybe take up drawing, painting, dancing or some other creative activity, or launch a new blog, or maybe socialise, meetup with friends or Clean out those closets.