Last week, the Service for Healthy Use of Technology (SHUT) clinic at National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) in Bengaluru received its first case of Netflix addiction: a 26-year-old unemployed man had turned to the streaming service to shut out reality for more than six months.
While entertainment has always had an element of escapism, streaming services that put up a show’s entire season for viewing on multiple devices, have increased viewers’ susceptibility to binge-watching. It’s increasingly common for people to spend seven hours at a stretch watching the entire season of their favourite sitcom or thriller. But what if you can’t stop?
‘Feel good’ activity
Manoj Kumar Sharma, professor of clinical psychology, NIMHANS, who heads the SHUT clinic, said the young man started spending more than seven hours a day binge-watching films and shows on Netflix as it helped him feel good. “Whenever his family pressured him to earn a living, or when he saw his friends doing well, he would watch the shows on offer continuously. He could forget about his problems,” said Dr. Sharma.
Read more: https://www.thehindu.com/todays-pap...flix-addiction-at-nimhans/article25152340.ece
7 Symptoms Of Netflix Addiction
While entertainment has always had an element of escapism, streaming services that put up a show’s entire season for viewing on multiple devices, have increased viewers’ susceptibility to binge-watching. It’s increasingly common for people to spend seven hours at a stretch watching the entire season of their favourite sitcom or thriller. But what if you can’t stop?
‘Feel good’ activity
Manoj Kumar Sharma, professor of clinical psychology, NIMHANS, who heads the SHUT clinic, said the young man started spending more than seven hours a day binge-watching films and shows on Netflix as it helped him feel good. “Whenever his family pressured him to earn a living, or when he saw his friends doing well, he would watch the shows on offer continuously. He could forget about his problems,” said Dr. Sharma.
Read more: https://www.thehindu.com/todays-pap...flix-addiction-at-nimhans/article25152340.ece
7 Symptoms Of Netflix Addiction
- You feel that Netflix is your only friend or love, and feel bad when your favorite series ends. To overcome this ‘hangover’, you start watching a new series, and the cycle continues.
- You cannot stop yourself from clicking that ‘Next Episode’ button when a episode of a series ends. Your fingers move automatically, and you keep on clicking next and next, and participate in ‘Binge Watching’ exercise.
- You have sore eyes and have pain in the back due to long hours of watching Netflix. In some cases, black spots have emerged under the eyes.
- If you watch Netflix for 7-10 hours daily (and then feel guilty), then it is definitely an addiction.
- There is a mental breakdown internally, and you feel anxious when there is no new show to watch. You get into a depressive state, and you feel as if there is no other joy remaining in the world.
- You start avoiding crucial/important tasks because of Netflix, and give an excuse for those tasks.You feel as if watching Netflix is the most important task in your life now.
- Netflix is the most visited website on your PC/mobile; and you have opened the portal in various devices. You keep on hitting the refresh button on the home-page, and compulsively open the website even if you are doing some other tasks.
