Readers Digest Australia Sampler 2022

• The person engages in binge-watch- ing as a way of reliably changing their mood: to feel better in the short-term or to temporarily escape from some- thing negative in their life (mood modification). • Binge-watching compromises key aspects of the person’s life like re- lationships and education or work (conflict). • The number of hours the person spends binge-watching each day has increased significantly over time (tolerance). • The person experi- ences psychological and/or physiological withdrawal symptoms if they’re unable to bi nge-watch (w it h- drawal). • If the person manages to temporar- ily stop binge-watching, when they engage in the activity again, they go straight back into the cycle they were in previously (relapse). In my view, any person who fulfils these six components would be gen- uinely addicted to binge-watching. A person who only fulfils some of these may be exhibiting problemat- ic binge-watching, but wouldn’t be classed as addicted by my criteria. Like many other behavioural ad- dictions, such as work addiction and exercise addiction, binge-watching addiction is not officially recognised in any psychiatric manuals. We also don’t have accurate estimates of the prevalence of problematic binge-watching. But research into this phenomenon is growing. A LOOK AT THE EVIDENCE In the latest study on this topic, a re- search team in Poland surveyed 645 young adults, all of whom reported that they had watched at least two ep- isodes of one show in a single sitting. The researchers wanted to understand some of the factors underlying prob- lematic binge-watch- ing. The authors, who based their defini- tion of problematic binge-watching part- ly on my components model of addiction, used a questionnaire they developed in an earlier study to assess problematic binge-watching among participants. Questions includ- ed: “How often do you neglect your duties in favour of watching series?” “How often do you feel sad or irritated when you can’t watch the TV series?” and “How often do you neglect your sleep to binge-watch series?” Participants had to give answers on a six-point scale from one (never) to six (always). A score above a certain threshold was deemed indicative of problematic binge-watching. Using a range of other scales, the researchers found that impulse control difficulties, lack of premed- itation (difficulties in planning and DURING LOCKDOWNS, MANY OF US SPENT MORE TIME BINGE-WATCHING readersdigest.com.au 15 The Genius Section