A new study reveals that binge-watching television shows may be enjoyable, but leads to a night of bad sleep. The assertion has been made based on the conclusions drawn by a new survey, which looked into the sleep histories and television viewing patters of more than 420 people between the ages of 18 and 25. The study’s author Liese Exelmans shares the research indicates that viewing multiple episodes of the same content or program in a row is linked to fatigue and sleep deprivation.
Binge watching associated with less sleep and fatigue
The study is published in the latest issue of the “Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine.
" Following the analysis of the survey results, the researchers found that more than 4 in 5 study participants have admitted of binge watching TV. Approximately a fifth of the binge-watchers stated that they pursue the habit more than once a week.
7 percent of the study participants stated that they have binge watched almost every day for the past month (leading to the survey). From the survey, the researchers also learned that the participants got a little more than seven and a half hours of sleep a night, where the recommended time for adults is seven to nine hours. Although the sleeping duration among the binge watcher may seem normal, the researchers found that the quality of sleep was worse compared to non-binge viewers.
Binge watchers also reported experiencing more fatigue than the non-Binge Watching population even after getting the required duration of sleep.
Binge watchers experience bad quality of sleep
Questions have been raised as to why the binge watchers report of feeling fatigued even after getting the required hours of sleep. Exelmans explains that watching the same content for hours psychologically affects the viewer and leaves them thinking about the show, its plot, and characters even after they have logged off.
This, in turn, increases the arousal in one’s body and a person’s heart rate, which takes longer to cool down, before the viewer can finally fall asleep.
Although the viewer may go to bed in time, the quality of sleep is disturbed which leaves them in a state of fatigue the next day. Exelmans also states that it is all a matter of habit and discipline.
This situation can be controlled if the viewer adheres to a timeline and promises not to binge watch. She states that controlling the urge to binge watch is a matter of self-control and nothing more than that.
