Celebrity and Entertainment Obsession: Understanding Our Addiction by Michael S. Levy

Author:Michael S. Levy [Levy, Michael S.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: undefined
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Published: 2015-08-05T22:00:00+00:00

Being Entertained as an Addiction

As reviewed in chapter 4, we have a vulnerability to addiction. Whether it is using heroin, alcohol, or cocaine; gambling; eating too much or too little food; eating junk food; engaging in sex; viewing pornography; smoking marijuana; smoking tobacco; exercising; watching football; surfing the Internet; or taking steroids, we are vulnerable to getting addicted to things. Our brain is an organ that gets modified by our life experience. It remembers what gives us pleasure, and we want to repeat over and over the things that make us feel good.

In general, when we think of addiction, we typically think of things people do that cause them harm and are done to excess, including many of the behaviors and activities just listed. However, even a positive activity can be addictive-like if it is done in excess and causes an individual or someone else harm. For example, even a healthy, constructive activity can become addictive-like and turn sour if the balance isn’t there (e.g., a compulsive golfer who must play golf incessantly to the point that it is hurting his or her marriage or a person who is physically active and who is starting to injure him- or herself due to too much exercise and refuses to stop despite being told to rest).

While addiction to the media may be too strong of a word, here are some statistics about watching television that are cause for concern:

According to the A. C. Nielsen Company, the average American watches approximately 153 hours of television at home every month.[10] That’s about five hours of television each day, or two and a half months of nonstop watching per year. In a 70-year life, that equals about 14.5 years glued to the tube.

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