feel anxiety while watching tv?

I googled it and surprisingly nothing came up.

when i watch tv i feel like im almost on the verge of a small panic attack

its like i cant get enough information or detail from what i watch, that the small glimpses of the world i get through the tv leave me wanting so much more that it gives me anxiety to the point where i cant even watch anymore.

This is with everything i watch on tv, anyone else get the same sensation

Sometimes I can feel myself dying while I watch people get paid crazy ammounts of money to pretend to do things I wish I could.

You need to stop watching TV for a while.

a couple of ideas that spring to mind but are probably of no use

watching tv does effect the activity of the brain, an eeg of someone watching tv looks more like that of someone in a coma than someone sleeping. I think there is evidence that watching tv leaves people somewhat restless. Seems unlikely that something like this is the problem.

I remember reading something about elderly people in American becoming very anxious due to the sensational content and presentation of your tv news and the fact they could be exposed to it for hours at a time. This was more of a chronic thing than something brought on whilst actually watching it. An elderly relative of an American friend actually suffered something like this.

TV is pretty **** though, maybe you could just read a book?

Are you watching a lot?

Not me dude...

I watch tv a lot, but no anxiety problems.

Originally Posted by breakfasteatre

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that the small glimpses of the world i get through the tv leave me wanting so much more that it gives me anxiety to the point where i cant even watch anymore.
Interesting. What exactly do you want more of? Watching video with sound is a state I think where people are very un-self-aware... it's almost like transposing another reality on them on top of actual reality. Real life in fact is just a TV where the screen ends at the periphery of vision. Normally in real life the stimulus stops a lot though because there isn't constant sound and often things aren't moving in your field of vision. My guess is that you're too involved in the TV, maybe you have too much attention, the opposite of ADD... perhaps slightly autistic? I have no idea...

Whenever I watch TV I'm just agitated cause I know I'm wasting time. That's why I pretty much stopped altogether.

It might make sense for you to stop watching television for a while to see if the problems go away.

I sort of identify. TV and bad movies send me into a very depressed mood. Some combination of the overwhelming banality of the content and the fact that there are millions of people out there who consider the stuff on the screen engaging and entertaining... then you start noticing the ridiculous production gimmics- dramatic music, close-ups of faces, an overly enthusiastic host, and one of the worst tricks ever played on mankind- the laugh track. I'll be ready to go along with some sitcom, take it for what it is and try to have a chuckle, then I get fixated on the laugh track and the whole house of cards crumbles... I'll usually then have to spend the rest of the night getting drunk on wine and cutting myself, which is why I dont watch much TV anymore.

I have only had an anxiety attack once while sober, and I don't really know why it happened. I remember watching TV to try to remind myself that everything was normal. Pot gives me mild anxiety so I don't smoke it.

You might be developing an anxiety disorder. If something distressing happened to you while you were watching tv in the past, you may have begun to associate watching television with that event. Maybe you should see a doctor?

Flipping through channels and noticing that every other station is some marsupialed reality show really bugs me. But at least you sometimes see some nice looking women that way. Muting it helps.

Then if you try to watch informative shows you might could learn something from the host repeats the same facts 3-4 times in a row. Then just when you thought it was over and goes to a commercial break you get told the same facts (worded slightly differently) after the break at least twice more. What's going on here? I heard it all before the break we don't need to get a re-cap from something that was said 3 minutes ago. It's like 1 minute of dialogue stretched out to 20 minutes of viewing. Most of America is too god damn marsupialed to learn it after the first time so the hosts have to drill it into your head. That or the writers couldn't find enough content to fill out the length of the show. Makes me shut the tv off and read.

I saw a TV show recently that talked about this very issue. I can't remember what it was, but if you flip through your TIVO I am sure you can find it. I saw it last Tuesday for certain. It was not on one of the networks, I think it was on A&E or USA or one of those channels like it. It was in the evening, probably prime time, but might have been a little before or after. Definitely go check it out. It had some great insights.

Originally Posted by Pennglock

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I sort of identify. TV and bad movies send me into a very depressed mood. Some combination of the overwhelming banality of the content and the fact that there are millions of people out there who consider the stuff on the screen engaging and entertaining... then you start noticing the ridiculous production gimmics- dramatic music, close-ups of faces, an overly enthusiastic host, and one of the worst tricks ever played on mankind- the laugh track. I'll be ready to go along with some sitcom, take it for what it is and try to have a chuckle, then I get fixated on the laugh track and the whole house of cards crumbles... I'll usually then have to spend the rest of the night getting drunk on wine and cutting myself, which is why I dont watch much TV anymore.

+1

I watched the American version of Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares for the first time a month ago and there's this constant impelling music in the background as if the restaurant is about to be hit by a meteor or something. Then the constant focus on stern faces! Ugh. I can't watch it.

reading all the morning papers gives me anxiety.