Platforms like Netflix make it possible to watch a series in its entirety in a short period of time. A phenomenon that makes you lose sleep.
Glassy eyes riveted on your computer screen, you haven’t left your sofa all day. Can’t turn it off until you see Cersei’s latest plot in Games of throne or had one last thrill with Eleven in Stranger Things. A marathon-series that could turn you into a zombie, warns a study published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine.
Researchers from the universities of Michigan (United States) and Louvain (Belgium) have indeed shown that this “binge-watching” alters the quality of sleep, promotes fatigue and insomnia. This harmful phenomenon for health is however on the rise thanks to platforms.
An involuntary binge-watching
In fact, among the 420 young adults aged 18 to 25, 81% said that they happened to watch several episodes of the same series in a single day. The researchers called them “binge-viewers”. About a third of them reported having done so more than once during the month studied. A rather feminine tendency, if we are to believe the results.
The researchers also noted that this binge-watching was often unintentional. Absorbed by the story and the twists and turns, viewers launch the next episode regardless of what time it is, they explain.
Obesity, heart disease …
A carelessness that impacts their sleep. Participants reported sleeping an average of 7.37 hours per night. Insufficient time for the biggest addicts to the series since they complain more of fatigue and poor quality sleep.
Kept awake by the suspense of the episodes, they also have a harder time falling asleep. “They are so involved in their series that they keep thinking about it and rehashing it when they go to bed,” describes Liese Exelmans, researcher at the University of Louvain and responsible for the work.
Lose sleep for Walking dead, Narcos Where The office of legends, would then not be without consequences. The researchers point out that sleep deprivation is associated with memory and learning disorders, but also with obesity, hypertension and cardiovascular disease.
“Sleep is the fuel our bodies need to function properly. It is therefore very important to document the risk factors that impact sleep. In view of these results, binge-watching is one of them, ”concludes Liese Exelmans.
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