# Readers Happier Than TV Watchers



## Geemont (Nov 18, 2008)

> Readers Happier Than TV Watchers
> 
> LOS ANGELES - Unhappy people watch more TV while those who consider themselves happy spend more time reading and socializing, according to a new study....


So, if you read more you're less likely to be depressed. It seems more like a correlation between TV and unhappiness rather than causation, but I'm open to the idea that TV can make you unhappy. My wife thinks the blitz of images and advertising on TV can cause people to want things and lifestyles that are unrealistic and often unobtainable. I'm not so sure about that, but it is something to think about.

Another, more science focused source: Unhappy People Watch Lots More TV

BTW, I don't really watch TV at all. I did see the Presidential debates this year because I thought this election was very important, but otherwise I haven't seen a general TV shows since 1997. I've seen bits of TV when I'm in a room with other people who are watching, but I don't turn the TV when I'm alone and don't know anything about the current dramas or series out there.


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## Mikuto (Oct 30, 2008)

I watch a healthy (depending on your definition of the word) amount of TV, and I'm not depressed, but I think it seriously depends on what you're watching. 

The evening news is enough to make you want to jump of a bridge sometimes.


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## Dori (Oct 28, 2008)

I watched one show this summer/fall. Yep Oprah and she was showing off a new gadget.


Spoiler



You guessed it, KINDLE.


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## tc (Oct 29, 2008)

There are shows that I watch, on my time.  I record on the DVR those things that I want to see.  This way I can FF through the ads.  I have not felt that TV makes me unhappy.  If there is a show that I have recorded and I start it and don't like where it is going I just erase, no problem. You take away what you want from the shows you.

Now there are those who read to be able to escape from life.  They are unhappy and will not reach to other people and thus are alone.  Those of here love reading and even though we might escape to another place or time for a while, we love to read.  We share with others the things that we read, we what to read and ask what are you reading that I might want to read.   We have lives and share parts of our lives with each other.  We reach out.

As to TV and being unhappy or reading and being unhappy, well to me it is how you enter the activity and what you take away from it.

I hope this makes sense, At least it does in my mind.


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## Sailor (Nov 1, 2008)

> The evening news is enough to make you want to jump of a bridge sometimes.


Tell me about it. I quit watching the news and pretty much TV altogether when Kindle arrived (except I am like tc and DVR what I watch and skip the commercials). Hubby is happy now since we don't fight over programs. I like the quiet peace I now have getting lost in my reading. For some reason with Dead Tree Books, I never could get lost into them, fighting the pages and holding the heavy hardbacks while reading.

Geemont, what if it is really the other way around and TV watching makes people unhappy?


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## Mikuto (Oct 30, 2008)

I DVR my programs too, mostly crime dramas and fun stuff on the discovery channel, but I no longer watch the evening news. In fact I haven't watched it regularly in over 3 years. It's just not worth feeling as though the entire world is out to get you. I do watch a news "magazine" type program on MSNBC, but there's comedy thrown in so it's not all doom and gloom.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Here we are, reading and socializing because of our Kindles.  We must be VERY happy!

Betsy


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## Jen (Oct 28, 2008)

I also DVR and only watch selected shows.  Sometimes when I'm tired, TV is such a blessing.  After a long day staring at a computer sometimes my eyes just hurt too much to read and all I want is some mindless entertainment.  
However, I can believe that a certain type of tv watcher is out there that is more likely to be depressed.  I picture the couch potato, who does nothing but watch tv.  The person who has no desire to go out, see people, work, learn, read - all they do is sit and watch tv.  That would be depressing for sure.  
I don't think in moderation, anything is wrong with television.  But just like anything else, too much is a bad thing.


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## Geemont (Nov 18, 2008)

sailor said:


> Geemont, what if it is really the other way around and TV watching makes people unhappy?


I didn't think there is enough data to support that claim, though it is interesting to consider. Right now, it seems to be just a correlation, i.e, people who are unhappy watch more TV than those who are happy, and not a causation, e.g., smoking = health problems.


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## soapy70 (Oct 29, 2008)

I'm with ya'll. I love to read and it relaxes me. I set me dvr for all my shows for the week, then watch them on the weekend. I flip to the news to catch the weather or read the news online. -I do watch a good deal of tv when I can but I think I spend more time reading than anything.


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## Suzanne (Nov 3, 2008)

The only show I watch on a regular basis is Jeopardy. I do have Netflix and get my fix of TV watching with that. Also, with Netflix I have Roku which enables me to do my instant viewing on my TV instead of my computer. Actually, the only reason I really watch TV is to go along with my knitting. When I pull out the knitting needles, I'll pop in a Netflix or turn on Roku and see what's in my queue.


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## pidgeon92 (Oct 27, 2008)

I saw this foolishness    earlier today, and I love my TV as much as anything else. No one takes my Tivo away.


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## Anne (Oct 29, 2008)

I like both T.V. and reading. Most of the time. I will watch somethiing on T.V. and read  during the commerical


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

pidgeon92 said:


> I saw this foolishness  earlier today, and I love my TV as much as anything else. No one takes my Tivo away.


If we're watching TV or reading, we're not worrying about paying our cable/satellite or Amazon Visa bills.

A friend of mine once said she makes the decision to be happy every morning when she wakes up, and with eight kids, she never had much time to either read or watch TV.


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## Dori (Oct 28, 2008)

Wrong thread I realize,  just commenting on last post.  I just finished reading "Happy For No Reason".  It is a self help kind of book and very interesting concept.


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## Michael R. Hicks (Oct 29, 2008)

Well, normally I don't watch TV, just movies (mostly from Netflix). However, I do have an odd habit of watching infomercials in the morning on the weekends if I get up too early, and then every once in a while trashy sci-fi shows on the SciFi channel. D'oh! ;-)

But news? No. I have to keep up with current events enough in my job to not want to have anything to do with it when I get home. And most of what else is on TV isn't worth my time compared to other things I enjoy doing...

Cheers,
Mike


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## Guest (Nov 22, 2008)

I have a few shows I must watch.  Number 1 is Heroes.  I watch and rewatch the episodes trying to figure out whats going on with my friends.

HBO's True Blood, based on Charlaine Harris' Southern Vampire Mysteries series is another one.  This Sunday is the season finale`(bummer  )

I also have netflix and use it to watch movies and old TV shows on line and am currently watching HBO's old "Six Feet Under".

I'd be sad with out TV but I have gone months with out it before.  You don't get a lot of channels in the south Pacific while on an air craft carrier.


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## drenee (Nov 11, 2008)

I am so relieved to hear that others have quit watching the local news.  I was feeling guilty over the fact that I quit myself a couple years ago.  I have found that the "news" is often more geared towards entertaining or shocking and not factual information.


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## Michael R. Hicks (Oct 29, 2008)

Well, the latest news often means the latest shooting, the latest traffic accident, the latest political scandal, or the latest shenanigans of Paris Hilton or one of the many other dysfunctional "illuminati."

Now, if they made the news relevant, or at least had a better balance of the stories about misfortune vs. the good things that go on in our communities, it might be worthwhile...


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