I just read the following article on Yahoo.
Unhappy People Watch Lots More TV
by Jeanna Bryner
Unhappy people glue themselves to the television 30 percent more than happy people.
The finding, announced on Thursday, comes from a survey of nearly 30,000 American adults conducted between 1975 and 2006 as part of the General Social Survey.
While happy people reported watching an average of 19 hours of television per week, unhappy people reported 25 hours a week. The results held even after taking into account education, income, age and marital status.
In addition, happy individuals were more socially active, attended more religious services, voted more and read a newspaper more often than their less-chipper counterparts.
The researchers are not sure, though, whether unhappiness leads to more television-watching or more viewing leads to unhappiness.
**
I can actually answer the last question- depression leads to more television watching which then leads to guilt that nothing gets done. I hear this over and over again. I stopped watching television for a few years after I was diagnosed. I just couldn’t turn it off and so much of it was depressing!
I now love to watch TV- I’ve learned to only watch certain programs to make sure I don’t waste my time and then feel like crud for going back to old ways. I watch three shows American Idol, So You Think You Can Dance and Dancing with the Stars. My other viewing is FOOTBALL! as many of you who read this blog know. I do my email during the commercials. Getting the NFL channel has really helped!
My point is that we can watch way too much television when we get depressed- in fact, do you EVER watch television when you’re manic? That’s a great question!
Julie
I know that when i’m in my depressive state, I will lounge around and watch TV. I remember one month I didn’t do any work at all (work from home) and just layed on the sofa everyday watching the lifetime network
Hi Heather,
I didn’t have a TV for many years. Then I found out my TV could get a few shows- such as my favorite American Idol. I didn’t watch it much as the reception was bad. I then got cable in order to watch the NFL. It was pretty expensive- $75 a month, but it was worth it as I write a lot about sports in my writing.
Once the NFL was over, I found myself coming home and automatically turning on the TV. I cancelled the cable!
julie