We've heard about this Columbian potion that Shamans make you drink when you go visit them on hippie communes. You drink a bit of it then vomit for hours and, once you're all puked out, you have these transcendental experiences a bit like days worth of therapy. It reminds us a bit of Netflix. Now, we're not saying that Netflix is a semi-poisonous potion that makes us puke, but we must admit it's got addictive qualities and sometimes we fear for our mental state after we've spent a full day in bed watching hours and hours of their fine televisual products.
So what actually scientifically happens to our brains when we watch loads of TV in one go?
Well, according to actual science conducted by Dr Robert F Potter, director of the Institute for Communication Research at Indiana University, who was writing all of this for the Journal of Advertising Research, a whole bunch of stuff happens:
1. We feel instead of think
After 30 minutes, our brain activity will be in the right hemisphere instead of the left – we've left the place of logical thought and we're now in the area which deals with emotion. Our body will also release endorphins, the feel-good chemicals that make us feel good and in turn repeat whatever we're doing to release them – watching TV.
2. We get more drawn in by all the pretty pictures and sounds
Watching lots of moving images and hearing loads of sounds, even if they're not that nice, triggers our 'orienting response', which makes us hyper-aware of anything new introduced to our environment. Every time a new sight or sound comes from our laptops, our attention is recaptured. This happens over and over and over until whoops it's 11pm on a Saturday, you're meant to be out but you're still on the sofa watching TV.
3. We turn our attention on and off
Your laptop might be whirring and overheating from being switched on and used to the max for hours on end, but your ability to concentrate turns on and off. Your mind can be giving 'automatic attention' where 'the television is just washing over you and your brain is marinating in the changes of sensory stimuli' or 'controlled attention' where you get that much more involved in the characters' interactions. This could be because you hate or love the character – either way, you care.
4. We feel loss when we switch off
Studies in the 1970s proved that people felt like they had 'lost a friend' after switching their TVs off for a month, reports Shape. And Potter agrees that your emotional reactions to what we've been watching can stick around for way longer than we're watching them. These emotions, if negative, can then have a negative effect on the people you then interact with. It's not only down to the content of what you've been watching, but simply that you're not watching anymore – there's a sudden drop in those feel-good chemicals.
So, there you have it… Not quite as devastating as puking out your soul, but maybe something to take note of next time you're keen for a marathon session of a box set.
Follow Sophie on Twitter @sophwilkinson
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.