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 Television - The television is a telecommunication system for broadcasting and receiving moving pictures and sound ...
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Television Addiction. The term "television addiction" is imprecise and laden with value judgments,
but it captures the essence of a very real phenomenon.
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Television Addiction
Excessive cravings do not necessarily involve physical substances.
Gambling can become compulsive; sex can become obsessive. One
activity, however, stands out for its prominence and ubiquity--the
world's most popular leisure pastime, television.
Most people admit
to having a love-hate relationship with it. They complain about the
"boob tube" and "couch potatoes," then they settle into their sofas
and grab the remote control. Parents commonly fret about their
children's viewing (if not their own). Even researchers who study TV
for a living marvel at the medium's hold on them personally.
Scientists have been studying the effects of television for decades,
generally focusing on whether watching violence on TV correlates
with being violent in real life. Less attention has been paid to the basic allure of
the small screen--the medium, as opposed to the message.
Most of the criteria of substance dependence can apply
to people who watch a lot of TV.
The term "television addiction" is imprecise and laden with value judgments,
but it captures the essence of a very real phenomenon. Psychologists
and psychiatrists formally define substance dependence as a disorder
characterized by criteria that include spending a great deal of time
using the substance; using it more often than one intends; thinking
about reducing use or making repeated unsuccessful efforts to reduce
use; giving up important social, family or occupational activities
to use it; and reporting withdrawal symptoms when one stops using
it.
All these criteria can apply to people who watch a lot of
television. That does not mean that watching television, per se, is
problematic. Television can teach and amuse; it can reach aesthetic
heights; it can provide much needed distraction and escape. The
difficulty arises when people strongly sense that they ought not to
watch as much as they do and yet find themselves strangely unable to
reduce their viewing. Some knowledge of how the medium exerts its
pull may help heavy viewers gain better control over their lives.
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