Based on something I stumbled on recently, my mental health should be in tip top shape! Yours may be, to, especially if you love to binge watch your favorite TV shows over and over again. There are some people who just don’t get why someone would want to watch something (whether it be a TV show or a movie) repeatedly. However, it turns out that rewatching TV shows can actually be good for your mental health.
There have been numerous studies that have explored the psychological impact of a person’s favorites on television. One example is a series of four studies that were published in The Journal of Experimental Social Psychology back in 2009. The study found links to an increased sense of belonging and decreased feelings of rejection and loneliness when the study participants thought about their familiar TV favorites. If you are like me, you can’t help but wonder why this is the case.
It is thought that rewatching favorite shows can be helpful to us when we may be feeling down and disconnected from others because of the familiarity that our favorite shows provide. Shira Gabriel, PhD, one of the study’s co-authors said in an interview with Everyday Health, “Rewatching shows allows us to dive into a social world that we already know and already feel connected to. It is a fast way to feel connected, much like talking to an old friend makes one feel connected more quickly than a new person.”
This makes complete sense to me. We find a connection to these characters that we watch every week. You can probably think of a moment right now where the death of a TV character moved you to tears. At the same time, we get emotional when we watch a series finale and we actually have to say goodbye to these characters that have become such a part of our lives.
At the same time, this also might explain why we sometimes try to say what characters on these TV shows remind us of our friends and ourselves. For example, when talking about Sex And The City, people will say they’re the Carrie in their group while their bestie is Samantha and their other pal is definitely Miranda. If you are familiar with Sanford and Son, I will tell you that I call my dad “Pop” and he calls me Lamont.
These recent studies show that rewatching our favorite TV shows can also be incredibly comforting and provide a safe space to regulate our emotions and decompress. These shows can give us a sense of safety, especially when we may be stressed out from work, struggling in our relationships, or anxious in general. We are comfortable in the familiarity of the show itself.
While the studies focused primarily on rewatching TV shows, I would think that the same type of data would come from rewatching movies, too. I have my favorites that I go to when I need to laugh, as I am sure you do. It is not odd for me to interject movie quotes in my daily conversations with people. It’s like a second language to my friends and me.
It makes me wonder how this sort of thing would apply to people who read a book more than once or listen to the same music over and over. There would have to be some sort of connection, wouldn’t you think?
Well, if you got anything out of this blog, you received validation and permission to watch your favorite TV show and enjoy it over and over and over again. Feel free to talk about your “go to” rerun in the comments …. If you will excuse me, I can hear the theme song …..
Various Ramblings of a Nostalgic Italian 