Bingeing Hard or Hardly Working

It’s a Thursday night in mid-November.  The sky is dark even though it’s barely 5 p.m.  You can hear the winds hurling through the Iowa City streets outside your window.  Earlier you took your last chemistry exam before finals, and you feel like you deserve to have some fun.  You have plans to pre-game at your friend’s apartment then head downtown to enjoy Brothers’ $1 mug-club night.  Flipping through the recently added section on Netflix, you see that season three of The Crown is finally out and press play.

 Three episodes later, your friend texts you “hey, you coming?”.  You realize you’re still unshowered and in sweatpants snuggled up on the couch.  Episode four begins playing as you look out the window and see light snowflakes through the streetlight glow.  You text back, “hey, I don’t think I’m going to make it tonight” and turn on do not disturb. You consider ordering snacks off GoPuff as you settle back into the cushions.  Before you know, you’ve wasted another night bingeing.

In years past, the University of Iowa has been known for its partying and drinking culture.  In 2013, it claimed the title of Top Party School in the country by The Princeton Review. Since then, the university has taken initiative to lower high-risk drinking on campus through Student Health and Wellness programs and Alcohol Harm Reduction plans.  This kind of behavior can have serious short and long-term health concerns, physically and mentally. It can also negatively impact a student’s performance and success. 

In August 2019, The Gazette reported that while the student’s rates for high-risk and binge drinking has gone down, mental health issues such as depression, anxiety and suicide contemplation rates have doubled in the decade.  Student’s problems have not disappeared because of the decline in binge-drinking. So what is causing this spike? Ongoing research throughout the country proposes a contributing factor-- binge-watching, which comes with its own kind of problems and harmful behavior patterns. 

Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines binge as an unrestrained and often excessive indulgence.  You can binge just about anything to a harmful extent. When it comes to defining what constitutes a binge, there is often variation.  Michigan University research defined binge-watching as watching more than three episodes in one sitting. University at Buffalo research defined it as watching two to four hours at a time.  University of Iowa junior, Tatum Beynon, said she thinks binge-watching is anything more than the length of a movie or greater than two hours. However you define it, this type of behavior has become a cultural norm.

“This is a whole new behavior, something that wasn’t possible because of technology until very recently,” said Dr. Paul Gilbert, assistant professor of Community and Behavioral Health.  “Over Thanksgiving weekend I binge-watched some shows, and it probably doesn’t result in any harm at all to sit for three hours and watch TV.  But what if I did for ten hours or I skipped an obligation like Thanksgiving dinner to keep watching?”

An article by Medium points out reasons why we binge including improved experiences, feeling a sense of completion, cultural inclusion, convenience, catching up, relaxation and nostalgia.  A lot of binge watching is done on streaming sites such as Netflix, Hulu, AmazonPrime and, the recently released, Disney+. It’s also possible to fall into a blackhole through YouTube videos, Instagram feeds and a lot of other social media.  Students main motivation to binge watch is to escape the stresses of academia and daily life. 

“I binge-watch to unwind at the end of my day,” said University of Iowa junior, Andi Wahl.  “I'll put on an episode of a show while I make dinner and get ready for bed. It’s an easy way to capture my attention while I do menial daily tasks.”

While bingeing can be a way to relax at the end of a long day, too much viewing can lead to serious problems.  Behavioral Health Consultant, Patrick Rossmann, compares how binge-watching can have similarly negative effects to binge-drinking. 

“For behaviors like watching Netflix or drinking there may be a short-term relief in avoiding stress, but it can add to greater stress levels in the long term,” he said.  “It can be easy to intend to watch just one more episode, but find that you finished a whole season. Binge-watching can be addictive and difficult to stop once you start. It can also interfere with your sleep patterns and cause you to stay up later than you intended or make it more difficult to get to sleep if you’re watching right before bed.”

Rossmann said that binge-watching can also prevent a person from doing things such as working out, connecting with friends or studying.  University of Iowa senior, Zak Nelson, said he didn’t think his binge-watching habits were problematic, but that it encouraged procrastination. 

“Sometimes I stay up late watching shows and am tired the next day,” said Andi Wahl.  “Being tired in classes can affect my attention span and retention. There was one time freshman year when I had a paper due at midnight and I procrastinated by watching movies until around 11 p.m. I ended up rushing my paper to get it finished on time.”

The university’s health assessment survey shows that the top factor impeding on students’ success is stress at 32.7 percent while internet use/computer games still makes the top ten at 9.5 percent.  It doesn’t provide show-watching/TV as an option on the survey.

“Students mention binge-watching TV or Netflix as a way to avoid problems,” said Rossmann.  “It can have a negative effect on academics and getting work done.”

University of Iowa senior, Leigh Durian, skipped all her classes when the newest season of 13 Reasons Why came out on Netflix.  

“The show has so many cliff-hangers at the end of each episode, I just had to continue watching,” said Durian.

This type of investment in a series can lead to what University at Buffalo calls a “showhole”.  A showhole is the sense of sadness or emptiness a person feels after finishing a series. These feelings can come from one’s attachment to the characters and plot of the show.  Durian said she felt sad after finishing 13 Reasons Why because she began to think of the characters as her friends.  

Dr. Gilbert explained how in order to diagnose an alcohol consumption disorder, a consultant would primarily focus on how the individual feels or what the individual does after the behavior to determine if there is a problem.  He said he could see how these kinds of feelings that Durian had and the tendency to procrastinate could be defined as aftereffects with binge-watching.  

“Any substance use disorder diagnosis is based on the symptoms or aftereffects that you experience,” said Dr. Gilbert, “not necessarily how much you use or the behavior itself.”

He believes this is how doctors would determine if an individual’s binge-watching was becoming problematic behavior. 

Other health risks according to Michigan University research are obesity, sedentary and vision issues. Since most people binge-watch alone, there is a possible link between this viewing and depression.  

“Bingeing on media and social isolation could go hand in hand with depression,” said Gilbert.  “We know being connected to people and being in a community is healthy. If you’re withdrawing or isolating, that’s not so healthy.”

Even at a party school like Iowa, sometimes students choose to stay in the binge hole instead of going out with friends and socializing.

“I have totally stayed in alone during a binge instead of going out,” said University of Iowa junior Laren Chang. “This happens especially if I am on the fence about my plans.  It’s easier to stay cozy in bed than get up and get ready for something.”

University of Iowa sophomore, Emily Gumal, skipped dinner with friends in order to continue watching Gossip Girls even though it was the third time she had seen the series. 

Rossmann quoted Socrates “all things in moderation” and believes this wisdom still applies today in regards to any kind of binge.  He advises students to keep track of their behavior and notice how binge-watching could be negatively impacting them socially, mentally, emotionally and academically. 

Binge-watching has become mainstream, which is where all of these concerns come into play.  But in moderation, this kind of behavior can be unproblematic. 

“For most people simply drinking alcohol is not harmful,” said Dr. Gilbert. “It’s a question of how much, what’s going on when you drink or what are the aftereffects.  Bingeing on media is similar.”

While each of the Iowa students interviewed admitted a negative impact that their binge-watching behavior had on either their academics, mental health or social life, all of them said they believe they have control over their watching habits.