Binge Watching: Is it a harmless pleasure or a harmful addition?
The term “binge-watch” may seem like it’s been around forever, but it was actually first used in 2003. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, it means “to watch many or all episodes of (a TV series) in rapid succession.” The phrase gained popularity in 2013 when Netflix released the full 13-episode season of the series “House of Cards” at once. In 2015, “binge-watch” was declared the word of the year by Collins English Dictionary, which said use of the term had increased 200 percent in 2014.
Dr. Renee Carr is a clinical psychologist. She has pointed out that the human body “can become addicted to any activity or substances that consistently produce dopamine.” In fact, she says, the same neuronal pathways that are activated by drug addiction are activated by an addiction to binge-watching.
