Television addiction

Television addiction is a disorder where the subject has a compulsion to watch television. The compulsion can be extremely difficult to control in many cases. It has many parallels to other forms of addiction, such as addiction to drugs or gambling, which create an altered mental state in the subject.

Disagreements on definition
Defining addictions in general can be difficult. Although television viewing habits have been studied for decades, there is no commonly accepted checklist to diagnose television addiction. It is however, widely recognized as a real problem that people face.

Effects on life
Television addiction becomes a problem when a subject does not want to watch TV, but experiences an uncontrollable compulsion to start or continue watching. The subject may not accomplish tasks or goals that he or she feels are important.

Another bad effect of TV addiction is that people often feel withdrawal symptoms when they try to go for long periods without watching TV. Many viewers may feel anxious for a time as they try to adjust to living without TV's relaxing effects.

Coupled with other factors, habitual television watching, over long periods of time, has been known to cause, in some people, a lack of motivation and feelings of listlessness, depression, and anger.

People watch television more than any other activity- 3.5 hours a day is the average. For reading and other activities the figures did not go above 30 mins.