HBO; Netflix; Jordan Altnhaus/Universal TelevisionIt's safe to say that anyone with a Netflix account has binge-watched their way through a show or two. Why not? It's a relaxing excuse to stay in your bed, order Postmates and avoid your responsibilities for a while, which, sometimes we all need to do. What happens, however, when you have to get up at seven in the morning, but end up finishing Stranger Things an hour before your morning alarm? And what happens if that sort of behavior becomes a habit? It may seem like a harmless activity at first—it's not like it's cigs or meth or something—but as mellow-dramatic as this sounds, it can become an addiction.
You've probably heard some of the scary things that can happen when you Netflix and chill a little too hard. Maybe you've even experienced them yourself, without even knowing. If you've ever felt depressed after your show ends, felt yourself slacking off on important tasks, or vibing with that autoplay feature a little too much, you might want to think about scaling back your Netflix use a tiny bit. We're not telling you to quit Netflix and forget binge-watching altogether. Get serious. How would we have finished all of our shows in time to be cool enough to talk about them? Exactly. What we are suggesting is that if you identify as a binger, maybe it wouldn't hurt to glance at this list of not-so-fun facts for a minute. Don't worry; you're probably going to be just fine, but if any of these sound too close to home, you know what to do.
1. Vision. Does anyone remember the teenage girl who went temporarily blind after binging Netflix? No? Well she did, after watching a little too much on her smartphone, the Toronto Sun notes. "Her eyes were over-focusing and spasming, and the eye doctor told her she had to stop using her phone to watch Netflix and to read and for Facebook," her mother, Rene Boucher, explained. Moral of the story? It looks like you should stick to bigger screens if you must binge.
2. Social Life. Sure, Netflix is a great excuse to cancel plans and stay in your sweats, but doing that over and over isn't so good for you. A study, conducted by Marketcast, discovered that over half of bingers like to Netflix and chill alone. In other words, you're basically isolating yourself from your pals, and who wants that?
3. Sleep. John P. Higgins, MD, associate professor of cardiology at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, tells Health.com, "If you watch in a dark room with a lack of sunlight it can screw up your circadian rhythm and disrupt sleep-wake cycles." Obviously, if you aren't getting enough sleep, you're not going to be very happy about waking and adulting the next day, you know?
4. Posture. Stiffness, cramping muscles and pain in your back are all symptoms of too much binging. Not a good look.
5. Mood. No surprise here! Those who watch between two and five hours in a single day noted higher stress levels, depressed mood and even anxiety. In a study published in The Conversation, they write, "We don't know if depression, stress and anxiety are caused by binge-watching, or if it is the other way around. In other words, people might binge-watch as a way to temporarily alleviate preexisting feelings of stress and anxiety." Regardless of which causes which, nobody wants those feelings creeping into their life, amiright?
6. Productivity. In another study, conducted by researchers at the University of Texas at Austin, they found that people who lack self-control were, of course, less able to prevent themselves from watching show after show. They did this despite knowing they had other things they needed to scratch off their to-do list. Literally all of us.
7. Diet. Dr. Higgins tells Health.com again that watching TV is a perfect trap for a calorie fest. Since you're focused on your shows, you'll be prone to mindless eating and make unhealthy choices. Nope!
8. Wallet. - All that Domino's and Uber Eats are going to add up at some point. Not only in calories but in your bank account as well. Not to mention all those subscription services you might pay for in addition to Netflix.
9. Death. Yeah. This one's pretttttty intense and we're sorry we had to include it. While we're sure you'll be just fine if you chill out on your binging, going too crazy can actually lead to death. The Japanese Collaborative Cohort Study suggests that sitting for too long during your binge puts you at risk of experiencing a pulmonary embolism. Which basically means you could suffer from artery blockage (by way of a blood clot) in your lungs. No thanks!
10. Joy. Did you think we were really going to end this on such a depressing note? No way. Binge-watching is a magical thing, and we're not going to hate on it completely. Although it can be dangerous, as with everything, if you do it in moderation, you probably won't have to worry about all of the above. Don't chill too hard, okay guys?