#SAD TV SHOWS SERIES#
#SAD TV SHOWS TV#

We all have to face up to what lies behind our screens at some point. When youвЂ™re in a particularly rough headspace, it canвЂ™t quite live up to the real thing. ItвЂ™s easy to see why so many of us rely so heavily on comfort-watching: itвЂ™s cheap, itвЂ™s low-effort and, after the fourth or fifth time around, watching talking-heads of Leslie Knope really starts to feel like having a positive conversation with a close friend. It was kind of like, 'Okay, I'm just going to feel everything right now, and really wallow.'вЂќ I was going through so many things at that time and Game of Thrones is such an intense show it's so gory and terrible. Penelope can also describe more than one occasion in which television took precedence over her social life: вЂњI once just spent a whole weekend watching Game of Thrones. It's better than drugs, but it's not as good as, like, walking.вЂќ

#SAD TV SHOWS TV#

But when you have TV shows, you just feel like you might as well stay at home. вЂњA lot of the time when IвЂ™m feeling really bad, what I need to do, and what is actually good for me, is going outside and meeting a friend. Kay says sheвЂ™s someone who finds that her relationship with television has reinforced a tendency to isolate herself from others. Does it inhibit your ability to maintain relationships, or is it interfering with your career?вЂќ The problem, according to Tomas, is if you could be doing something better with the time youвЂ™re spending in front of the screen. вЂњThe main criterion is whether it interferes with what we call your вЂadaptive activitiesвЂ™. вЂњThereвЂ™s no evidence that itвЂ™s bad for you, or unhealthy per se,вЂќ says Tomas Chamarro-Premuzic, the chair of business psychology at University College London. But other times, when I'm in a bad state, I catch myself saying, 'Let's watch some Bojack ,' which I know will not be good for my mental health.вЂќ Still, thereвЂ™s even evidence to suggest that watching sad movies and TV actually increases endorphin levels in the brain. вЂњEven when IвЂ™m not sad I think, вЂLetвЂ™s watch a sad show.вЂ™ ItвЂ™s as if thereвЂ™s some sort of catharsis in that as well. Kay says sheвЂ™ll sometimes indulge in more self-destructive watching habits, choosing shows that she knows will exacerbate her low mood. It tracks that weвЂ™d gravitate towards more familiar, uplifting stories when weвЂ™re feeling low, but this isnвЂ™t always the case. This helps teenagers to move out of their lower brain to their higher brain and process their triggers in a calmer state.вЂќ In an article for Psycom, Missouri-based therapist Laura Fonseca explains why she often recommends that her patients rewatch media content they have enjoyed in the past: вЂњI encourage teens to watch their favourite movies from childhood as a way to calm down, relax, and ground themselves. However, science suggests that our choices may have more to do with the nostalgia factor than anything else. GreyвЂ™s Anatomy, The Good Place, Steven Universe, and Jane The Virgin all fall neatly in the intersection between the two. One Twitter user laments their aversion to Scrubs in the present: вЂњI associate it with pyjamas, cheap noodles and not leaving the house.вЂќД®nsemble comedy and вЂstrong womenвЂ™ emerge as prevalent themes in the very unscientific poll I conducted to identify potentially key depression shows among my peers. The habit has unfortunately tainted many popular TV shows for anxious-depressive viewers, haunted by the memories of sleepless nights, bad break-ups, and uni bedrooms left to fester, grimy beyond human repair. I'll just go and watch Netflix so I don't have to think about things.вЂќ вЂњI tend to watch television when I'm in a particularly depressive state, or when I'm anxious about something. вЂњItвЂ™s a really good form of escapism,вЂќ says Kay, a 22-year-old university student.

#SAD TV SHOWS SERIES#

At a time when private therapy prices are unaffordable for the majority of young people and public mental health services are an unending series of waiting lists, many of us turn to TV in the hopes of switching off. Watching TV certainly isnвЂ™t the most proactive form of self-care around, but it may well be one of the most prevalent. At that time, television was the biggest comfort for me. вЂњI had also begun experimenting with MDMA, in addition to going through a difficult break-up, which led me into a sort of spiral. The year was a period in which she was struggling with bouts of depression rooted in the stress of her university course. Lois, a 21-year-old designer from south London, found herself cycling through television programmes on a regular basis in 2018. I just like that Netflix automatically plays them one after the other.вЂќ вЂњIвЂ™ve probably seen it three or four times, because I usually rewatch the show in seasons. вЂњItвЂ™s just so good,вЂќ she says with palpable enthusiasm.