Have you ever thought about what happens to your mind when you’re hooked on reality TV dramas or glued to social media stories about personal conflicts and dramatic breakups? It’s not just a way to kill time. This habit could be harming your mental and emotional health more than you realize.
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin found that people who watch a lot of reality TV tend to be more aggressive and have a twisted view of what’s normal. It’s not just harmless fun—it might be teaching us to be meaner and to expect life to be a series of big, dramatic moments.
Social media isn’t helping either. Studies in the Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology show that scrolling through feeds full of drama can make you feel lonelier and more depressed. When we see others in constant turmoil, especially when it looks glamorous or they seem to be getting a lot of sympathy, it can make us feel dissatisfied with our own lives.
Psychologists also tell us that constantly watching other people’s problems can mess up our idea of what a healthy relationship looks like. We start looking for constant excitement or approval from others, which takes us away from what really makes us happy and secure.
Even more concerning, the American Psychological Association talks about something called ‘vicarious traumatization.’ That’s when you start feeling the stress and trauma from someone else’s dramatic stories—like having trouble sleeping or feeling anxious all the time.
So, it’s important to ask ourselves: Is the short-lived entertainment worth the lasting damage to our peace of mind? We need to be careful about the stories we let into our lives and choose ones that make us feel good, not worse. It’s all about filling our time with things that help us grow and feel better about ourselves, not things that bring us down.
