TV vs reading

DX'd - Other
1

Does anyone else have trouble watching TV? I like to sit back and get lost in a show but no matter how many shows are available I can only manage to watch one episode at a time lately. Yet I can sit and read for twice as long without any problems. TV watching I can feel anxiety build, it helps if sometimes I can look away from the screen, but some shows keep you glued to it because you might miss some important details. Then a lot of times I feel depressed after watching TV, where reading doesn’t make me feel that way I wonder why TV bothers me so much but Reading doesn’t…

I don’t know if I’m explaining this right. It’s just I tried watching something on Hulu and I thought I’d sit and “binge watch” a series, even one I’ve seen already but I can’t just it and watch multiple shows. It’s to taxing on my psyche. But I can sit and read several chapters in a book without the same drain on my symptoms.

Does this make since to any one else? Have you found ways to counter this situation?

2 Likes
2

I have trouble with both but reading is more difficult for me.
I have trouble with focus and concentration.

4 Likes
3

I guess its a concentration thing with me too, but i wonder if it has to do with the flashing images in the TV…or movement rather. At least with reading I can sit and just focus on the words. It helps if I have background noise or light music with few words in them. I don’t have a problem listening to words in music but I can’t listen to them when I’m trying to read.

I guess with TV there is just so much for me to concentrate on. The conversations, the people what they’re doing, the story, the set, the music in the background…reading I just have the words in front of me.

3 Likes
4

Both reading and watching TV can be a form of escapism. But answering your question I would say that I stick more with reading than with a movie or TV show. The last movie I watched was Power Rangers and I had some resistance to finish the movie. Despite of having more resistance to start a book, I have less resistance to finish it.

3 Likes
5

TV is boring and I can’t read, my head is much more entertaining…

4 Likes
6

I don’t watch TV by myself much anymore. I’m usually always doing something else too so I just miss stuff. I only ever watch anything longer than 10 minutes with my bf.

Can’t read for long periods of time either. About 10 mins also.

3 Likes
7

My main form of passive entertainment (Meaning all I have to do is sit back and do nothing.) Is daydreaming. I’ve always been a big daydreamer. I just take a thought and let it drag me away. Sometimes I’ll write about it, but that’s an active form of entertainment.

I dunno what it is about tv that sometimes bugs people like us, maybe because with reading we have some control over the images that run through and the way things are said, and so on. We’re the director of our own mental images under the best circumstances… I dunno if that makes sense.

4 Likes
8

TV is okay for me. I let my girlfriend choose what to watch. I don’t watch it at all when I’m on my own.
I avoid certain shows, especially the news when things are too tense. Violence, explicit sexual stuff, psychological thrillers, intense drama- all are a big no-no’s.
We watch cooking channel, light comedy, old sitcoms, Family Feud and stuff like Project Runway and Lifetime movies.
Some of them aren’t super manly, but I suppose I’m not too macho either. I rarely will admit it, but sometimes i really enjoy Project Runway and stuff on TLC. I don’t care, it’s easy to watch.

3 Likes
9

I can’t watch T.V. I get delusional about T.V. I start to think that the producers have some kind of anti female agenda that they are trying to push and promote through their t.v. shows and news casts. I think the same thing about movies. I also have deliusions about religion. I think t.v. and movies promote anti Catholic agendas too. For all I know, all of you on the forum agree with me and I am not delusional. It may all be so true. I can read all day long though.

1 Like
10

I can both watch tv and read for a limited period of time. But I seem to prefer tv. I can’t visualize storybooks that well.

2 Likes
11

The captions seem to improve my watching time…

2 Likes
12

Thanks for the replies, it was very interesting, at least it’s not just a me problem it appears. I have to be careful about what I do watch. I have to be real careful about shows like Dead Files and Ghost Adventures, because they tend to make me more paranoid about being haunted. My mom likes to watch shows like Tyler Henry or Long Island Medium, but I think they’re just so fake. At least Ghost Adventures and Dead files appear to be more realistic. I guess I just don’t believe to much in mediums, but I believe in spirits, and demons, and Heaven and Hell…though Ghost Adventures have a way of not showing what they’re reacting to…you know something happening just off screen, or strange sounds which can be easily faked. I think though when they flash images before/after commercials it just disturbs me.

I do watch Dr. Phil, even though I think he’s fake too, and i have to be careful how much of him I watch because his voices tends to get into my head as one of my own negative voices…I don’t watch much new shows, about the only thee new shows I watch lately are Hawaii 5-0, Blind-spot, and because I’ve been a die-hard fan since the beginning I watch new X-Files episodes though they’re getting stupider and stupider.

I do love American Horror Story, or did, if they don’t get better concepts for the next season I might start fazing that one out of my routine, like I’m fazing out Walking Dead because I just don’t care about the characters any more…most of the ones I like have died or turned out to be jerks…I’m wrong, I do love Big Bang Theory and Young Sheldon, I guess there’s more new shows than I realize.

But I also like older shows, like what I have on DVD, I love to watch Alf, Mama’s Family, Keeping up Appearances, Married with Children, Friends, Sex and the City, King of Queens X-Files (the beginning part of the series anyway) and I also have Star Trek Next Generation, I keep debating if I want to buy the original Star Trek series with Schanter, and Neemoy but it all looks so fake I dont’ know if I want to waste my money on it…

I’ll watch Everyone Love Raymond but I think that show is just a bit too annoying to say I’d watch it on my own. oh and mom and I love watching Roseanne, I can’t wait for the reunion show to start at the end of the month. My own guilty little pleasure is watching My Little Ponies Friendship is Magic before bed.

The only thing is I can’t sit and binge watch like people say they do, you know st and watch like a whole series at one time. I’m lucky if I get two shows at at time in. And if I do most of the time they’re half hour shows. But some times shows can really play with my moods, they can make me feel extremely depressed and it takes a while for me to shake the feeling off. I don’t know…

13

The only thing I can enjoy watching when I’m sick is infomercials. Don’t know why but it calms me.

1 Like
14

Most TV programs promotes a “normal” life where problems are short lived and everybody has a serious relationship which is not always how it is in the real World. Books can have the same messages depending on what you read. I don’t know about your life but I have problems that will never go away and have never had a serious relationship so I don’t watch many TV shows either.

1 Like
15

No Tv at the moment don’t really miss it.

1 Like
16

I understand, I like the escapism of some TV shows, like to pretend I’m one of the characters, or create a character in my head and play along with the rest of the cast. I always worry though, my first real psychotic break came while doing this as a teenager, and I would swear I was that character I remember even signing homework with the character’s name and whatever. That’s why I’m careful not to get too involved with shows and try really hard to remind myself that the stories I come up with are all in my head. It’s the same with books, most of my fantasies revolve around either books, movies, or TV shows. I guess it’s fine as long as I can remind myself they’re “fantasies” and not real.

17

Sometimes I think it’s the noise of the tv that is too much for me. The background sounds seem too loud compared to the conversations. Plus I spend as much time looking for a good movie as actually watching the one I finally found.

3 Likes
18

i gave up tv a while ago

3 Likes
19

This topic was automatically closed 90 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.