I have been binge watching 12 seasons of Bones. Bones is a detective show that was on FOX and is now on Hulu. I never intended to do this. Intellectually, I know this is a colossal waste of time. Yet, I watch on.
It started when I was sick – too sick to read, too sick to think. I needed a diversion. I had been given seasons 1 & 2 on DVD. And the room I was sleeping in had only a TV with a DVD player. So, I put season 1 in and started to watch/sleep through a lot of it. It provided the needed distraction to focus on something other than how awful I felt.
When I joined the world again, I was feeling somewhat better – but not great. I would go to work and then collapse in bed. And I began season 2. Coming home and being able to just enjoy Bones in bed got me through the next week of pushing myself to go to work when I felt crappy. Unfortunately, I continued the trend when I started to feel like myself. It was easy. I was invested in the characters and they didn’t require much of me unlike the small children I work with or my family at home. I just wanted to not think and not give to others.
I’m not alone in this. According to a 2014 Netflix survey 61% of its respondents regularly binge-watch at 2-3 episodes in one sitting. According to clinical psychologist Dr. Renee Carr “when binge watching your favorite show, your brain is continually producing dopamine and your body experiences a drug-like high.” But after you turn off the TV and return to reality, the low sets in. No more dopamine. My low is compounded by the guilt that I am wasting my precious free time.
But by learning more about binge-watching and its effects, I have decided to cut myself some slack. I have a couple more episodes to watch (And yes – Bones has 12 seasons) and then I’m done. I will stick to movies and read more books. Because they end. And the addiction can end…at least until the next time I’m sick
