What Binge Watching Does To Your Brain | Let Lee Explain

Surprise, streaming services are taking advantage of your psychological weaknesses. You don't just like that new show, you might actually be addicted to watching that latest Netflix show. Lee Adams explains what binge watching does to your brain.

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[manhalrahman]

The only breaks we take during binge watching sessions are:

1. Our eyes are watery and even the minimum light from the screen feels uncomfortable.

2. Going to the bathroom

3. Bringing food to that place, to eat while watching.

4. Feeling extremely drowsy.

5. When the show is over or there is no next season yet... followed by depression and questioning the purpose of human existence.

[AlMondO]

Man's got a pencil behind his ear so you better believe he's an expert on this.

[muhammadwaleed]

Kinda ironic that that addiction brought me here

[aliciadinar]

Parasocial relationships was the component that got me. I just realized I am emotionally involved with fictional characters and celebrities who don't exist, and/or don't know I exist, and positioning it that way casts the light on the fact that's really unnatural and unhealthy.

[zamaz]

My attention span isn‘t long enough to watch this video.

[mehemojie]

I completely agree, it's an addiction. Finally someone is talking about this.

[FindTheFun]

News flash: doing anything you enjoy releases dopamine. You like this.

[RubsNL]

This correlation of bingewatching and depression could easily go the other way, depressed people seek out such distractions more.

[vanjwatler]

The comment section is also addicting lol

[cheezarose]

They act like Western streaming services are the origin of binge watching. Anime and Asian content fan know what's up since the invention of downloadable videos.
Personally if a show starts getting bad I stop.

[nlain]

I disagree with your interpretation of the data in the "bingewatching makes you sad" section: I think it's more likely the case that people with higher levels of stress, anxiety, and depression are more likely to use binge watching as a coping method. Simply put, it should be "being sad makes you bingewatch."
I'm just basing this off of personal experience, so it's totally conjecture, but just a thought.

[JoshuaOtusanya]

If you’re reading this, major success is coming your way this year :)

[seinavt]

I feel like that depression, anxiety, and stress graph is misleading, how do they know if it's not the other way around, that they binge watch BECAUSE they are stressed/anxious/depressed?

[KleWdSide]

I think binge watching is more comforting than being around acquaintances you don't like all that much.

[ThaKillerKlown]

I sent my wife a link to this video and she said... "I'll watch it after I finish streaming this movie."

[lovelyafternoon]

3:34 Just because the binge watchers on average were more anxious and depressed, it doesn't mean that the binge watching caused the anxiety and depression, which he was for sure implying. It's simple correlation vs. causation. Also, dopamine gets released when you do anything that you enjoy doing. He was making dopamine seem like a chemical you only get when you do drugs and bad things, which is just ridiculous.

[BlackMercura]

Totallu agree with the cliffhanger thing. Heavy serialization contribites to unsatisfying endings within episodes. This is why I usually prefer more episodic shows where each episode itself provides a self-contained story. A great mix of the two would be Avatar The Last Airbender :)

[dannytabla]

being binge watching VICE documentary for years now lol.

[brysonhahn]

Having researched this extensively, I knew every point he was going to make. I still watched to the end, because I wanted to see how It ends

[nessessaryfeedback]

For me, binge-watching is something I use to escape from my problems. I can not control myself and it feels so, so bad. I have so much to do in my life, but I choose instead to waste it. These characters in shows connect to me so much because I feel like I do not have friends. I just wish I could step into a world of make-believe and be best buds with Eleven (Stranger Things, obviously), Rebecca Bunch (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend reference), Killua (HxH), or, well, not really her family is insane, Lenora (Fall of the House of Usher -- such a good show oh my god). Anyway, I have watched thousands of hours of TV that could have been used to literally gain expertise in a subject and master it. Like, I could have become an extremely good artist or pianist with that time. I feel like I have wasted my life, and can't go back, so then I keep going for me. TV is a disgusting thing because I can not monitor myself. I wish I could turn it off after one episode. I wish I did not even have the drive to watch it in the first place. But, no, I have to watch Ugly Betty or SAO, I just have to. Maybe it is a good thing, maybe it could be somehow, but, I can not trick myself into believing that. I hope it all turns around. Who knows? Maybe I've watched so much, that I could be the next Stephen Spielberg, because I know what people want to see.