Everyone's well aware of the phenomena of binge watching Netflix TV shows. They are more known for having an unlimited amount of new series and have continually made new 'Netlflix original' series that seem too hard to stop watching. So, what I was wondering is, why are we so inclined to binge watch television shows when we’re stressed?

I, like many students, find myself more inclined to watch a ‘few episodes’ on Netflix whenever I am supposed to be studying. I will even allow myself to watch one episode in the library before I even open a book. Why? I ration with myself that it’s to destress before I even get into what I have to get done. My question: Is this to escape reality? Why do we do this?

This binge watching phenomena has been a new development in the past five years, with the new prominency of Netflix and Amazon prime video. Streaming every season of a TV show has just gotten easier. According to an article in Psychology Today, binge watching has everything to do with neuroscience.

In order for TV show makers to get people to binge watch these shows, they play on peoples emotions. They make us feel empathic; to share the feelings of another. The ‘another’ being the people in the shows. We relate ourselves to the persons in the show as an escape. This escape makes us feel as though we don’t have all the stress that we are holding onto. When in reality, that stress is still there even after we watch all 7 seasons in 3 days.

This phenomena needs to stop! The first step to your addiction is to recognize your habit. Once you do, you can come face to face with your actual reality !