Addiction Nation

According to the video here, the average American watches 26-30 hours of television each week, but what about those people that watch 40 hours of television every week?  Do they have an addiction? Most doctors claim that a person must be either mentally or physically dependent on something for them to be addicted and TV watching does not fit that definition.  However, if you know someone who never seems to step away from the television screen, it probably seems like TV addiction is very real thing.

Watching TV for hours on end turns into a mindless activity for some people, causing them to watch channels or programs or Dish packages that have no real significance for them except that they run all day long.  Being engaged in such a mindless activity as watching television for an extended period of time can lead to more serious issues as well.  TV encourages physical passivity since the only reason a TV viewer needs to move is to get up to get food.  Sitting for such long periods causes viewers to lose track of time and eating schedules, leading to obesity and even more hours of television watching.  Even if you or the doctors don’t consider this an addiction, it is surely something to be aware of when you sit down to watch your favorite shows.  Plan out which shows you want to watch each week and then fill in the leftover time with other activities such as reading or getting coffee with friends instead of watching TV that you don’t even care about.