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I read somewhere that binge watching actually makes people enjoy the show less. I think watching TV for hours and hours generally is bad for your mental health. Most TV content isn't good for your psyche. It's not an accident that they call it a program.
They have said that binging makes one more prone to depression and I have never believed it. I dont get why it is ok to finish a book over a weekend but it is bad to spend the weekend binging a series.
You had an addictive break. You gave up your whole weekend in "doing up" your addiction, ignoring family, friends, real life, you ducked out and indulged your addiction the full weekend.
Now you are having the hangover. You have realized you wasted a weekend of your life, annoyed your family, and what do you have to show for it? What do you have to show for it? ... Nothing. Except you won't have to see it again.
The good news: everybody is entitled to occasional mistakes. Make amends, don't repeat the experience.
Or to look at another way you are experiencing cognitive dissonance. You expected your vaunted series was going to be a great experience. Maybe it was okay but not great. Maybe it was not enough better than your usual life, so you feel you gave up something tangible for something that was not what you expected: a great experience.
Cognitive dissonance: "the state of having inconsistent thoughts, beliefs, or attitudes, especially as relating to behavioral decisions and attitude change."
Maybe you thought you would enjoy your mental vacation more than real life, but discovered you didn't.
You had an addictive break. You gave up your whole weekend in "doing up" your addiction, ignoring family, friends, real life, you ducked out and indulged your addiction the full weekend.
Now you are having the hangover. You have realized you wasted a weekend of your life, annoyed your family, and what do you have to show for it? What do you have to show for it? ... Nothing. Except you won't have to see it again.
The good news: everybody is entitled to occasional mistakes. Make amends, don't repeat the experience.
Or to look at another way you are experiencing cognitive dissonance. You expected your vaunted series was going to be a great experience. Maybe it was okay but not great. Maybe it was not enough better than your usual life, so you feel you gave up something tangible for something that was not what you expected: a great experience.
Cognitive dissonance: "the state of having inconsistent thoughts, beliefs, or attitudes, especially as relating to behavioral decisions and attitude change."
Maybe you thought you would enjoy your mental vacation more than real life, but discovered you didn't.
My suggestion is to reduce your dosage.
Yeah, um, I am single and have no children and live 2,000 miles away from my extended family. I had no responsibilities over the weekend, the stuff that needed to get done got done, the dogs got exercised, I went for a couple bike rides, and all the bills were paid. No amends to be made. Thanks for playing though.
I have struggled with clinical depression and anxiety as add-ons to my ADD all my life, but I usually manage it all quite well. However, under the weight of a rather large amount of evidence, I recently came to the realization that my mother (who has always been quick to point out that her ex-husband, my father, is a narcissist) is also a narcissist who has been gaslighting me consistently for all 40 years of my life. Things I had assumed were truths all my life are actually quite false, and that the person who has put herself forward as my biggest advocate over the years was actually undermining my perceptions of reality, my sense of self and my understanding of human relationships the entire time.
So yes, I'm feeling a bit "unhappy" right now, as well as duped and somewhat bereft. I just thought the binge watching and its aftermath would make for interesting conversation on the psych board and was curious if anyone else could relate.
My apologies for not giving you all the nitty gritty details to prevent you from making some rather patronizing assumptions. My bad.
I can understand how that would mess you up, your parents etc. I would be interested in the psycho-dynamics of a narcissistic couple--in a different topic. It's always seemed to me like two narcissists would repel one another.
I guess you can take away that binge watching doesn't work for you.
I'm a binge reader, although evidently I've been on the forum all day.
Binge watching doesn't really impact my mental health, but whatever is being watched is in my thoughts during the day. My husband and I recently binge watched 7 (or 8) seasons of a Netflix drama over a month's time. Almost every night we watched 2 or 3 episodes. I found myself thinking about the characters as if they were real-cheering them on and hoping they would be well. At one point I almost asked my husband what he thought one of the characters would think of a situation.
That's not happened before. I think it's this particular drama as it took place in a city/area I know. Some of the situations are similar to things my husband experienced in his family.
It's been a week since we finished all of the seasons. I'm fine. It's out of sight, out of mind.
I had been considering watching the entire Game of Thrones HBO series once it's completed. (If it's completed.) I'm up to date on reading the series, 2 volumes left to go, but after such a long time since the last release I'm losing interest, and anyway it's medieval fantasy and I've lost my interest in that genre (now into urban fantasy).
After reading and participating in this topic I think I'll scratch my plans to rent the series when it's complete. I can think of better ways to waste that amount of time in my life.
And hell no, even if I watched it I wouldn't watch it end-to-end no breaks. That would be totally crazy! Or I'd end up totally crazy by the end. Bat sh** crazy!!!
When I couldn't sleep, I binge-watched "Downton Abbey" and I think it is best series I've ever seen. The accents can be hard to follow, but I have Spanish subtitles---lol. The characters were so fully developed they became like real people to me. And that era is so fascinating. I hated that it was over.
Now I'm binge-watching "Call the Midwives"---another superb BBC production.
Last year we binge-watched "House" and really got caught up in that. All on Netflix so no commercials. We have totally lost tolerance for commercials now. Or "regular" TV.
As someone else said, I binge-read. Don't see any difference. I think both are a good escape and takes your mind off your troubles for that time. I tend to ruminate over bad things in the past when I can't sleep, so it really helps me. Along with a wee-hours cocktail! I'm down for the count in my 2nd sleep cycle.
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