I believe I am addicted to television. I’m not making light of addiction here. 
(Alright, maybe a little) I believe I am truly addicted. Supporting evidence follows. When I step in the door, the TV must go on. I rate the purchase of my DVR equivalent to letting a heroin user walk around with a ‘I.V’ drip. I can mainline TV to the exact flow I need. Thanks to the (nigh)infinite content available I can have most of my waking hours fully programmed. Is it an addiction? Or just as innocuous as turning the radio on in the background?
(Alright, maybe a little) I believe I am truly addicted. Supporting evidence follows. When I step in the door, the TV must go on. I rate the purchase of my DVR equivalent to letting a heroin user walk around with a ‘I.V’ drip. I can mainline TV to the exact flow I need. Thanks to the (nigh)infinite content available I can have most of my waking hours fully programmed. Is it an addiction? Or just as innocuous as turning the radio on in the background?
When in doubt I Google. What are the official signs of addiction? After a quick search I determine there is too much information; so I pick the first site I find with a list. I’m a sucker for a list with 10 entries or less.
| There will be some back and forth so click the items below to play along at home |
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| You no longer have a choice about whether you want a particular substance or activity.I cannot by my will alone stop time (yet) so that ‘24′ will run out of a plot mechanism. The fact about me is – if there is a new LOST available to be watched I have no choice but to watch it. This gets a Yes. |
| You use it to relax or deal with your problems.When the TV is on there are no problems… unless the cable goes out (like it did the other night during Survivor). If that happens I’d have use my back-up – my pusher – the DVR. Another Yes. |
| You start having problems with performing at work or at school.Does talking about TV shows during work count as ‘having problems’? I have convinced most of my co-workers my theories about LOST are spot on. I guess it would be an issue to some managers so I’ll give that one a strong Possibly. |
| You lose interest in activities that used to be important to you.I am biased answering this one. If you ask a truly addicted person they cannot remember ever being really interested in anything else. So my gut reaction is that I’ve always been interested in TV. Letter of this question, No. Spirit, Yes. |
| Spending a lot of time figuring out how to get more of the substance you are addicted to.I spend a lot of time researching my addiction. I want quality and quantity. I make sure every day has content. There are the dailies – Coronation Street, Y&R. Then there are the nightlies – which vary from night to night but include Lost, The Office, Survivor, anything Joss Whedon. So yeah, I make sure I always have enough. |
| Changes in demeanor.Only when I’m let down by my fix. Yes I’m looking at you Flash Forward. And during that Survivor outage I was pissed. So this one gets a yes it effects my mood. |
| Keeping your activities a secret from family, friends and co-workers.Until this blog is read most of the people I know might be surprised by the dailies. Another in the yes column. |
| Changes in appetite and/or sleeping habits.During the writing of this entry I am up prohibitively late re-watching an episode of LOST. There have been many sleepless nights trying to fit in all the nightlies. Consider this a yes. |
| You need to take more of the substance to get the same “high” or “rush.”What I consider good TV then would not be the same TV now. Each Survivor needs to be better than the last. Fringe needs to be greater than X-Files. Battlestar Galactica needed to be better than Battlestar Galactica. Yep to this one too. |
| You experience withdrawal symptoms when you try to stop.Now this is a biggie. This one is real. It’s that room thing I mentioned at the beginning. If I am in a room with a TV and it’s not on… Woah. That sends the creepy crawlies all over me. I have been known to lunge at remotes in other people’s homes during uncomfortable silences. Big yes here. |
Eight Yeses and two might as well be Yeses. I am addicted. Case solved. I decided I am going to live with the addiction. Does an addicted person have a choice? But the realization that I am addicted to the medium allows me to make choices. Before I thought I was choosing to watch TV. I now know that I must choose NOT to watch TV. I practiced that choice the other day, the silence wasn’t half bad. But the plot sucked.
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