Television addiction has been defined as watching television, which subjectively manifests itself in poorly controlled activities that replace other more productive activities and are difficult to stop. Watching TV is a socially acceptable use of free time. According to statistics, the average American watches about 3 hours of TV a day. If a person sleeps 9 hours a day, then at least one day a week he spends exclusively on TV. Various sociological studies show that about 10% of people call themselves TV addicts.
TV addiction is called thelemania and is considered a disease. This condition negatively affects the mental and physical health of a person. Addiction to television indicates that there are no interests, the person does not have any goals, so she burns her life in front of the screen.
The development of addiction is influenced by certain factors:
- a lot of free time;
- thirst to live in a fictional world, someone else’s life;
- the desire to escape from reality, from their problems;
- lack of friends;
- low self-esteem.
Causes and signs of appearance
Certain factors influence the development of a passion for television.
Excessive free time. In order to “kill” time, a large number of people start watching a series. Over time, the series is no longer one, but several dozen. TV addiction continues to progress.
The desire to live someone else’s life. Book lovers experience the same problem. They try to immerse themselves as deeply as possible in the life of the protagonist, over time it develops into a kind of drug.
Desire to avoid reality. Some people, wanting to avoid their problems, plunge into the virtual world, forming an addiction to TV.
Signs of television addiction are:
- Poor health, anxiety, irritability, weakness at the end of the TV viewing;
- Feeling of loss of reality, confusion when the TV suddenly turns off;
- Unscheduled views;
- Failure of actions aimed at reducing the time spent in front of the TV and the associated feeling of guilt;
- Concentration of attention on events, plot lines of TV programs, the desire to translate the topic of conversation on the discussion of what was seen on TV;
- Decrease in professional activity or neglect of family responsibilities due to TV;
- Any other forms of recreation (reading, walking, sports, hobbies) begin to give way, the time previously spent on them is filled with watching TV;
- If you refuse to watch TV for 3 days or more, the following phenomena occur: discomfort, weakness, loss of strength, apathy, indifference, melancholy, anxiety, a feeling of emptiness, irreparable loss, dissatisfaction with life, reduced disability and family conflicts, aggression, irritability.
Effects
As a result of frequent gatherings in front of the TV, the cardiovascular system suffers, there is a danger of hypertension, obesity, and intellectual activity decreases. And also leads to:
- deterioration of vision, which is a well-known fact that does not require additional evidence;
- hypodynamia and one of its consequences – curvature of the spine;
- overweight due to a sedentary lifestyle;
- to sleep disturbances, increased fearfulness, excitability and other neurological problems.
As with any addiction, a person loses his “I”, turning into an observer at the flickering of pictures.
If you watch various shows, serials, advertising for a long time, this will lead to a lack of development of your own thoughts. Despite the fact that the mind of the individual does not produce his own thoughts, he is carried away by the mental activity emanating from the television spectacle. The mind of the TV watcher ceaselessly accepts the thoughts and images that come off the screen. At the same time, a person is subject to a passive state of heightened impressionability, which is akin to hypnosis. That is why television is a means for manipulating consciousness, and to think that this kind of rest gives relaxation is self-deception.
The influence of television is a threat by overloading people with immoderate information. A colossal stream of TV shows, serials, advertisements, news releases is reflected in the minds of people. People’s heads are loaded with useless information, and there is absolutely no room left for more relevant things.
It is the frequent viewing of TV that significantly undermines the health of the adherents of the broadcasting “box”. The critical thinking of an individual is very strongly influenced by watching TV, since constantly, watching individuals already unconditionally believe what is being broadcast from the screen and this is not due to the fact that it is an advertisement or a news broadcast.
In addition, the danger of TV addiction leads to the following:
Depression. The series always ends, and we return to reality again. And this is stress again. After all, it is virtually so good there, but there are so many problems. Indeed, scientists at the University of Texas found that people who spend a lot of time watching TV are more likely to suffer from stress and depression.
Fatigue. People who sit for hours on a flight in front of the TV do not really rest, but get tired. It is strange, but a person is morally loaded at this time, because he is worried about the fate of his hero.
Obesity. A person who constantly watches TV clearly leads an inactive way of life. Therefore, over time, extra pounds appear.
Vision. While watching TV, a person’s eyes are strained, and he forgets to blink while there is no moisture, which leads to dry eyes. And accordingly myopia develops.
Work – Often, TV addiction is carried over to the workplace. And sometimes, instead of doing an important assignment, an employee watches his favorite movie. That cannot but have a negative impact on the work process.
Family and close people. Not only the person himself suffers from such dependence, but also his close environment. They don’t get his attention. And worst of all, the rest of the family is starting to get addicted to TV. After all, if, for example, mom is watching a series, then why shouldn’t dad watch his favorite TV show, and children can’t play on the computer.
Dealing with addiction
With addiction, a person is not able to direct his actions. You can get rid of this dependence. However, if a person does not want to get rid of it, then it is almost impossible to recover. There are various known ways to deal with Thelemania.
First of all, you need to reduce the time spent in front of the TV. Try to combine watching TV with your homework. For example, you can vacuum, arrange things in places. As a result, you will be distracted from watching the program and will do the necessary chores around the house.
You need to find another activity that will take up most of your time. It can be sports, work, study, socializing with friends.
You need to make a rigid daily routine in which there is practically no time left for watching TV.
You can write a list of goals and desires that you would like to realize.
You can learn foreign languages, travel, do science, relax with friends, visit theaters and museums.
Do not start watching new TV programs, series. Otherwise, you will never get out of television slavery.
It is necessary to eliminate the attention deficit: to communicate more often live with family and friends, to find new acquaintances.
Thelemania is known to be a serious psychological disorder that impairs the quality of life of an addict.
TV viewing rules
– Limit TV time clearly! To do this, use an alarm clock, you can’t argue with it!
– Monitor the broadcasts your child is watching.
– Give preference to high-quality cartoons, where they teach kindness, helping loved ones, caring for animals; or educational programs.
– After watching, be sure to discuss what you saw: how the characters behaved, their good and bad deeds. Only in this case the cartoon develops the child! Often the child does not process information, but simply copies, unconsciously, what he sees on the screen.
– Do not watch fantasy with children. This is how zombies, vampires appear in a child’s life, which are quite real for a preschooler, no matter how adults try to convince them.
– Do not let your child watch TV while eating, this leads to obesity, as he does not feel how much he has eaten.
– Before going to bed, the child can watch a calm cartoon, where the characters are not bright (acid) colors, move slowly, speak quietly (from domestic)! Modern cartoons overexcite the nervous system of the child.
Better yet, read a book at night.
– Make sure that the TV does not work for you all day, creating the background. Do not put the TV in the children’s room !!!
– It is useful to arrange one day without TV for the whole family. You will see how many things the whole family will do.
Time spent in front of TV is dead time (wasted). Instead of learning something in life, we watch it on TV and do nothing. It’s much easier to lie down and watch football than to play it.
