TV Therapy: Watch your way to better mental health
Are you anxious, stressed-out, neurotic? Are you haunted by the past, overwhelmed by the present, and worried about the future? Do you fear that you are losing your grip, your hair, or your mind? In short, are you a normal person?
The solution I prescribe is not only simple and accessible, but it’s entertaining and slots perfectly into your schedule. I recommend you watch television. Thanks to technology, watching TV is no longer an activity that requires you to plonk yourself in front of the set at a specific time. You can watch TV anytime, anywhere, as long as you are not driving a car, operating heavy machinery, or crossing the street. You can watch shows on an old-school TV set, on a computer screen, on a tablet, on a phone. If you’re extremely busy, you can watch a few minutes between appointments. If the traffic is bad enough, you can watch an entire season of Jonathan Norrell and Mr Strange or Silicon Valley while sitting in a car.
Here are five very common situations and the TV shows that might make you feel less wretched about being in those situations. If they don’t work, at least you will be diverted or distracted. (In which case I recommend reading 19th century Russian novels. Not only are they magnificent, but they will make your life seem cheerful in comparison.)
Read our TV column The Binge at BusinessWorld.
Answers to questions you might be asking, unless you wandered onto this site purely by accident >>>
September 18th, 2015 at 21:56
Since you mentioned Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, how is it? Would you recommend it? I love the book and would rather not watch the series if it isn’t worth it.
September 20th, 2015 at 11:47
UVDust: Haven’t read the book, but the series is excellent.