Binge-watching can be hazardous

Binge-watching, otherwise known as streaming many TV episodes in one sitting, is more doable than ever.

It’s a bit worrisome to health experts across the country.

According to a 2017 study published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, avid binge-watchers reported poor sleep quality, increased fatigue and more insomnia symptoms. Michigan State University researchers presented a link between binge-watching and poor lifestyle choices — such as less healthful meals, unhealthy snacks and sedentary behaviors — at the 67th annual Conference of the International Communication Association in 2017.

For Sophia Tolliver, a family medicine physician at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, the first concern “is how sedentary you can become,” she says. “Studies show that sitting for long periods of time can increase one’s risk for metabolic syndrome, which can increase your risk of heart disease, stroke and Type 2 diabetes.”

In a 2018 study, researchers found that prolonged sitting for binge-watching is similar to prolonged sedentary behavior for long-haul flights or illness: It can increase your risk of developing conditions such as deepvein thrombosis, a blood clot in the leg that can be fatal if it breaks off and travels to the heart or lungs.

In the study, even ultimately achieving the recommended amount of physical activity was not enough to reverse the risk of clots during TV binges.

Tolliver also notes that overeating and over-watching often go hand-in-hand.

“In addition, research shows the majority of individuals binge-watch alone,” she says.

“Studies have connected a lack of socialization to increased risks of heart disease and stroke, not to mention, fewer significant social relationships may increase the rates of depression and other mood disorders.”

Ronald Chervin, a sleep neurologist and director of Michigan Medicine’s Sleep Disorders Centers, says watching multiple episodes before sleeping can cause you to lose more sleep and even reset your circadian rhythms to a later schedule.

Because humans “have evolved to do best on a near24-hour sleep cycle,” Chervin says, the shift to a later cycle can cause difficulty falling asleep, difficulty waking up and a general feeling of sleep deprivation. “We also see people who wake up in the middle of the night, and can’t go back to sleep, so they start watching television,” Chervin says.

Sleep deprivation has been associated with depression, memory deficits, lack of coordination, accident proneness, heart problems and more, according to Brad Lander, a clinical psychologist at Ohio State’s medical center.

There’s also reason to be concerned about digital eyestrain. According to the Vision Council, 80 percent of Americans use digital devices for more than two hours a day, and 59 percent of them report eyestrain, neck and shoulder pain, dry eyes, headaches and blurred vision.

Lander says there’s nothing inherently wrong with the occasional TV binge.

“Television has some positive psychological effects,” he says. “The problem is when you do it too much.”