I’ve caught the TV bug.

Before I was ill, I’d never really watched TV. I’ve always liked to read, and my crafting occupied most of my evenings. Being ill changed all of that. I found, while lying on the sofa, recovering, I was too tired to read and ended up falling asleep over my book – no matter how thrilling the story. I decided instead to fall asleep over Escape to the Country or Bargain Hunt.

Somehow, the habit stuck and now I watch an almost embarrassing amount of television.

But I’m careful. I know that, if I watch much “gritty” drama, I will have nightmares about it and the traumatic events played out on the screen will prey on my mind. My mind makes no distinction between drama and real life. I tend to avoid the news for the same reason. I watch feel good television. My husband takes pleasure in Michael Portillo’s rail journeys, and I like The Repair Shop. We both enjoy Simon Reeve’s travel documentaries. I’ve recently become addicted to Masterchef and am waiting impatiently for the Sewing Bee and Bake Off. It’s all gentle, warming television that doesn’t sap too much brain power and leaves you feeling happy – unless your favourite contestant is weeded out in that week’s programme of course.

I can’t help feeling a little guilty, however. I really feel I should be doing something more productive with my time. While I’m crafting, I have something concrete (not literally) to show for the hours of work. I can’t help but feel that watching TV is a waste of my time.

I suppose this is partly a result of upbringing. When I was growing up, we were limited on one hour of TV a day – the children’s hour. On Sunday afternoons we all had to watch the afternoon matinee with my uncles and grandfather – usually a Western, I remember. That was the only TV we were allowed to watch: TV was seen as somehow threatening to our moral fibre. I must say, however, that in my grandfather’s house, many things were viewed with disapprobation, even my “excessive” reading habits. My grandfather was a Lancastrian puritan, and I often say that a Lancastrian puritan is what a Scottish puritan aspires to be when he grows up.

But what effect does this TV habit have on my mental health?

Mostly positive, I think. Yes, there is this vague feeling of guilt, but I can dismiss this as part of my upbringing. If I think about the way TV makes me feel at the end of an evening watching very gentle and wholesome programmes, then I can see tthis makes a positive contribution to my mental health. In addition, it is time spent with my husband, and watching these programmes together gives us something to talk about.

Do you watch TV? What do you watch and how would you say it affects your mental health?

Mary

A Moodscope member