Some people watch television to relieve stress. Watching television may be a remedy to minimize stress, but then, again, it could be a cause of some stress. It may be distracting you to such a point that other tasks and activities are being ignored, which may cause more stress later.

I was recently reading a book entitled, Stop Stress This Minute, and it discussed how important it is to maintain balance. This is what the article said about watching television. The California State University at Northridge reports the following information about TV watching on their website and how it can become a mild form of addiction. Heavy TV viewers exhibit “dependency symptoms”.

These include:
One – Using TV as a sedative.
Two – Indiscriminate viewing.
Three – Feeling loss of control.
Four – Feeling angry with oneself for watching too much.
Five – Inability to stop watching.
Six – Feeling miserable when kept from watching.

These behaviors can disrupt people’s lives, are difficult to stop, and people use them as an escape from their troubles. It is these very real consequences that can turn an ordinary behavior, like watching TV, into a counter productive coping strategy. So, if you are going to watch TV to relieve stress – be selective and maintain balance.

Many years ago, Oscar Wilde said, “Everything in moderation.” Today, that could be the key to work and life balance. Watching some television for entertain is probably okay, too much and it can be a problem. Manage stress – don’t create it.

If you need to find a keynote speaker, plenary speaker, breakout speaker, concurrent session speaker, seminar leader, or workshop facilitator who can deliver in-person, virtually, or via prerecorded session, Kit Welchlin, M.A., CSP, CVP, is a nationally recognized professional motivational speaker and author and can be found at www.welchlin.com or www.SeminarsOnStress.com.