Why TV streaming is bad for our health (according to science)

We all love our streaming services, whether it's Netflix, Amazon, Now TV or Blinkbox '“ but a growing number of academics are suggesting we may love it a little too much

It may seem like an innocent and ingenious platform to watch all your favourite movies and TV shows on, but too much time binge watching might not be good for us after all.

Probably unbeknown to you, a streaming account comes with multiple health risks – according to certain scientific research.

Don’t believe us? Well…

Binge-watching may cause depression

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According to one study conducted at the University of Texas last year, there’s a link between the act of binge-watching TV shows, and depression.

More than three hundred 16-29 year-olds were asked to participate in the study, which found that the more depressed and lonely the subjects felt, the more likely they were to sit and binge watch a TV show.

So, it’s not exactly 100 per cent proven that watching an entire series of Daredevil in one day will plunge you into a pit of self-loathing (it’s entirely possible it’s the other way around), but the correlation is there.

Maybe your relentless desire to drill through Breaking Bad one more time is worth taking a closer look at.

It can kill your sleeping pattern

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Six hours’ sleep, and you’re bouncing off the walls like a crazy Loony Toon. Ten hours’ sleep, and you’re slouching down the street like an extra from Night of the Living Dead. Sound familiar?

Well, it’s no secret that watching TV right before bed isn’t great for you, but the rise in on-demand streaming has led to a great deal more before-bed viewing, because… well, it’s on demand.

And trust us, that last episode of Making a Murderer might seem unmissable at the time, but the following day of exhaustion is never worth it.

Unfortunately the problem isn’t the need for “just one more episode” robbing us of sleep. It’s actually the light projected from your laptop/TV/tablet screen that is most detrimental to your slumber.

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Basically, if you watch TV right before bed, your brain is going to think that it’s daytime, and kick-start your body into action, leading to a massively long night of tossing and turning, and an even longer next day.

It might be destroying our sex lives

We like to think of ourselves as stallions in the privacy of our homes, but in all actuality, our sex lives are being slowly ruined by 24-hour access to media.

David Spiegelhalter, professor of the public understanding of risk, has recently stated that British couples’ sex lives are being damaged by the availability of online entertainment.

We’re sure there are many of you right now scoffing at such a claim, and while we admire your personal belief, we must assure you that the statistical analysis somewhat backs up the good Professor’s claims.

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The cause of this abstinence may be the whole portable, always-available internet culture that’s sprung up over the last few years.

It sounds strange to say it, but currently, the human race is on a downward trajectory in terms of reproduction, and it’s because we’re more interested in billions of pointless Facebook updates – and the next series of Game Of Thrones.

Could it actually be the new silent killer?

Is it going too far to say that streaming has the potential to kill you?

Probably, although there has been significant evidence released in the past to suggest that there may be a link between excessive streaming, and pulmonary embolisms.

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In truth, it’s not actually watching streaming services that’ll give you an embolism, but the act of sitting for a prolonged period of time, meaning you’ll be absolutely fine if you get up for a stroll every ten minutes to stretch your legs.

But admit it, you’ve never done that in your life, have you?

Obviously, it’s wrong to directly link streaming to any of these afflictions, but some of the behaviours associated with using online streaming sites excessively certainly aren’t good for us.

We’d suggest at least following some kind of handy guide to binge watching (oh look, here’s one now), because if you’re going to do something wrong, do it right.

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