Health & Wellness

Remote Control, Real Consequences: The Hidden Toll of Television on Your Heart

For many decades, people everywhere have turned to television for fun, comfort and companionship. Watching TV, starting from solving a crisis to cheering for a winning sports team, to exploring realms of fantasy and dragons, helps us feel many emotions. Would it ever cross your mind that your favorite shows could affect your physical health? If you find that television isn’t helping you feel better, it might be helpful to choose a different episode or channel.

How Emotions and Blood Pressure Are Related

Tense television dramas can lead many viewers to experience real emotions of tension and stress. At the height of a thrilling moment or ending, your body isn’t able to tell if it’s a movie event or a real threat. Based on the information from the American Heart Association, stress of any kind can encourage your body to release adrenaline and cortisol, hormones involved in your “fight or flight” response. When you get sudden excitement, these hormones force your heartbeat up and increase your blood pressure to help you react instantly — even when there’s no real threat.

Seeing the Signs of Stressful Viewing

All TV is not created equal when it comes to stress. For some, the stress may be the white-knuckle action of a crime series or the high-stakes drama of a medical show. For others, even the competitive tensions of shows about reality or sports may be worrying. So how will you know if TV watching is worrying you? Consider these few signs that your body might be reacting adversely to what you are watching:

1. Physical Symptoms: Do you notice that when you get tense you might grind your teeth, clasp your hands tightly or breathe out strongly? Symptoms like them let you know your body is stressed and the increased blood pressure can wear on your heart.

2. Hanging Anxiety: As you finish an episode, do you feel restless or edgy? If emotional tension carries over to your viewing-after state, it may be a cue that your series is pushing beyond your stress limits.

3. Difficulty in Sleeping: A very suspenseful or emotionally provocative episode may get your mind going and prevent it from relaxing, interfering with your sleeping pattern. Poor sleep has then been associated with both stress and high blood pressure.

4. Over-identification with Characters: While it is natural to get emotionally invested in your favorite characters, getting too engaged can sometimes raise your stress levels at times. For example, research studies that have been published in the journal Media Psychology indicate that viewers who are highly empathetic to characters going through disturbing situations may experience higher physiological arousal.

Tips for Taking Care of Stress During Your Favorite TV Shows

There’s no need to give up television to look after your heart. There are few easy steps that you can take to prevent stress without losing the enjoyment of TV.

Start with balancing high-stakes programming with breaks of lighter, calming programming. So, for instance, after watching a highly suspenseful crime show for hours on end, unwind using a light comedy or a feel-good reality show. Mayo Clinic professionals recommend using “positive distractions” to offset stress.

Another useful strategy is to take brief pauses when experiencing powerful episodes. Stepping back to think or extend leads your body to recharge, preventing stress from piling up. Likewise, refrain from viewing highly stimulating programs close to bedtime. Sleep experts caution against being exposed to high-energy or anxiety-provoking episodes late in the evening because they can interfere with your capacity for unwinding and sleeping.

Mindfulness exercises and slow breathing at times of tension can also help your body relax its stress reaction. In a 2020 study released in Psychosomatic Medicine, doing mindful breathing — where you focus on slow in-and-out breathing — was found to lower cortisol levels and normalize blood pressure. Try using this technique the next time you catch yourself tense for impact as you are going through a very suspenseful plot development.