Are you settling in for a night of ten episodes of Friends? Every night? Well, we have some bad news.
According to a study to be presented at the Conference of International Communication Association, people who are more lonely and depressed than average are more likely to binge-watch TV. Researchers surveyed 316 eighteen to twenty-nine year olds about how often they watched TV, how often they binge-watched TV, and how often they had feelings of loneliness, depression, and poor self-control. Perhaps unsurprisingly, those who were more lonely, depressed, or had poorer self-control than average were more likely to binge-watch than the rest of others.
According to the researchers, “Physical fatigue and problems such as obesity and other health problems are related to binge-watching and they are a cause for concern. When binge-watching becomes rampant, viewers may start to neglect their work and their relationships with others. Even though people know they should not, they have difficulty resisting the desire to watch episodes continuously.”
So, neglecting other areas of your life for David Schwimmer? It may be time to talk to someone.
