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T.V. is danger to CFS

usedtobeperkytina

Senior Member
Messages
1,479
Location
Clay, Alabama
This is just an opinion.

I was listening to the radio, a news / interview show. The woman was telling about how T.V. shows use our natural instincts to get our attention. She said that when we lived in nature, we had to be aware of becoming a tiger's lunch. So our brain is programed to pay attention to sudden movements. That way we will see the predator before it gets us.

We don't depend on our nose or ears as much as we do our eyes.

T.V. shows want us to give our attention to them, so we don't click to another channel. Especially since we have remote controls.

So they have flashing lights, things flying toward you, etc. to capture your attention.

Same in movies in movie theatre. 3-D is an extreme version of this. But other movies have "special effects" that are meant to be visually stimulating. The loud sound is part of it. But it is stimulating the body's response to threats (as it was when we lived in nature) with sudden movements. So our body's response is high alert, release of cortisol, flooding the body, etc. as though we had a predator after us. For healthy people, it makes them feel alert, alive.

And that is where the danger is. CFSers have a very sensitive CNS. This is shown by light sensitivity and noise sensitivity. We need to be calming the CNS, not stimulating it. We don't need this. It is harmful. Our sympathetic is also overworked. It needs some down time. We should be encouraging more parasympathetic time. In general, stress is harmful to us, just as it is for some with other illnesses. And T.V. shows are geared to create stress.

Remember in 1997 the Japanese cartoon that was causing some little kids to have seizures? This is the design of T.V. shows. Now that I look up the old news reports, it wasn't just children.

I just wanted to bring this to everyone's attention. Some may not have thought of it. But we need to be careful with what T.V. shows and how much T.V. we watch.

Tina
 

Dr. Yes

Shame on You
Messages
868
This is a very significant point, Tina. I think a majority of PWC have difficulty watching TV; I couldn't watch it at all for many years, and can only watch limited amounts on 'good days' now; too much TV used to bring on extreme cognitive dysfunction for me. So, for that matter, can spending too much time on the computer... :worried:

Gotta go!

(btw - watching a movie in a theater would probably make my head explode.)
 

jspotila

Senior Member
Messages
1,099
I completely agree. I have been cutting back on tv and media consumption more and more. I can't watch any form of news, reality shows and most other kinds of shows. It's the commercials that kill me, in particular. Except for soccer and football, almost anything I watch is on DVR or DVD. And movie theater? Not in years. I am so grateful for the web and podcasts and all this technology!
 

wciarci

Wenderella
Messages
264
Location
Connecticut
That is why I prefer the BBC, NPTV, Nature, National Geographic and here in Ct, CPTV or sleepytv as we call it. ;-)

Wendy
 

serenity

Senior Member
Messages
571
Location
Austin
i am very careful about what i watch & usually watch the same shows that i know i enjoy over & over on DVD.
 

Wonko

Senior Member
Messages
1,467
Location
The other side.
whilst I can see your point and sometimes tv is just too intense for me to tolerate if (as seems to be the case) we are programmed to respond to respond to rapid movements the programming is faulty

if you see a tiger moving rapidly then 1 of 2 things is likely to be the case

1. it's ok - someone else is going to be lunch - or
2. it's too late

so as a survival mechanism it leaves a little to be desired lol
 

gracenote

All shall be well . . .
Messages
1,537
Location
Santa Rosa, CA
I stopped getting cable because I couldn't control what images I saw, and the commercials were so disturbing. I found I could handle "bad" news reading about it in the paper, but not seeing the images played over and over on the television screen. For years I depended on Netflix and selected the movies I watched carefully. Now I do most of my watching on my computer. The commercials are starting to get louder and longer, but in the beginning, there were few commercials.

For some reason, I find radio commercials even more jarring than television ones. I started listening to music on Pandora (a free self-created radio station) until they began adding some speaking commercials. I have been startled several times, while listening to classical music, to suddenly hear a voice in my house!

(Dr. Yes. I'm resisting putting an image here to go along with what a movie theater experience would be like for you. It would kind of miss the whole point of this thread. You can thank me later.)

Most of my ME/CFS friends have had to disconnect their cable. A few depend on talking books and occasional videos.
 

serenity

Senior Member
Messages
571
Location
Austin
i wonder if this is why people like travel too? for them the new sights, sounds, smells, etc. are exciting? while for me it is just exhausting.
 

usedtobeperkytina

Senior Member
Messages
1,479
Location
Clay, Alabama
You are right, T.V. commercials are the worst. I even went to a newspaper Web site and one of the ads was flashing red and yellow back and forth real fast to get my attention. I almost complained. Thankfully it wasn't on there the next day.

I worked in advertising. I know there is so much clutter that each advertiser is trying to cut through the clutter to get attention. Not all use screaming or bold flashing words in contrasting colors, but that is one method.

We have a station on our T.V. that has only easy listening music. I am finding myself on that station more and more these days.

Tina
 

starryeyes

Senior Member
Messages
1,558
Location
Bay Area, California
That is why I prefer the BBC, NPTV, Nature, National Geographic and here in Ct, CPTV or sleepytv as we call it. ;-)

Wendy

Yeah I love sleepy tv. :) I also like renting artsy films. I also listen to soothing music almost all the time.

Regular tv is like an assault on my senses especially since I don't watch much of it anymore. It's gotten much worse over time.

That's really interesting information Tina. Thank you for sharing that.
 

Dreambirdie

work in progress
Messages
5,569
Location
N. California
In my case, the computer is worse than the tv. The effect of the radiation on my brain is much more immediate and intense.
Sometimes I actually wear sunglasses while online, which kinda helps, and I almost never get on the computer or watch tv after 6 pm, or else it seriously disrupts my sleep.

I usually avoid most of the big network shows, and stick to PBS and the History Channel. But I gotta say I love Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert.

And teej I'm with you on the artsy films and documentaries. I need some new ones for my netflix list, so I'll be asking for your recommendations.
 
D

Denn

Guest
Ditto to what most people have said although I agree with Dreambirdie that the computer is worse than the tv. It sometimes just seems to drain my energy to nothing. Especially online games which I no longer do at all. It has a way, sometimes, of just sucking you in (or, that is, sucking your soul out).

I love science shows now, especially cosmology and natural history. Can't take anything with negative emotional overtones: crime or war shows, etc... They are worse than the lights. Still, I know that some folks respond neurologically to the flashing lights etc. in a very bad fashion.

I love music and radio: New Age tunes (a name as surely iniquitous as CFS!), classical, and on really good days progressive R n R. Does anybody listen to Echoes on NPR? Great stuff. I wish his online streaming was not so expensive.

Denn
 

HopingSince88

Senior Member
Messages
335
Location
Maine
When the airwaves for TV went digital, I threw out my old TV. My kids were horrified when they visited and found I had no boob-tube for them to watch. So they bought me a new flatscreen tv for my birthday last year. It sat in a box in the basement for 8 or so months. I finally set it up around the holidays, in case they stopped by for a visit (they live a good distance and I don't see them but for a couple of times a year). It has been sitting on a stand in my living room for 5 months now, and I have not turned it on once. I am planning to put it in a finished room in the basement and maybe hook up a DVD player for some easy yoga program I have been thinking of starting.

I love netflix too. Watch those on my 'puter though.

I miss PBS :-|
 

wciarci

Wenderella
Messages
264
Location
Connecticut
Teejkay, yes! I love Brittish films for their character development and plot rather than shoot them up action films or worse yet slasher/horror. Yuk. My music of late is bluegrass and Creedance, Joni Mitchell and of course Jazz and Beethoven. Gotta love the big B.

Wendy
 

JillBohr

Senior Member
Messages
247
Location
Columbus, OH
My oldest son, now 11, has autism and seizure disorder. He has had 4 grand mal seizures starting when he was 10 years old in a 3 month period. All of the grand mal seizures occured while he was watching T.V. T. V. is a big no no in our house. Well, at least while the kids are awake. He has not had a grand mal seizure in over a year now.
 

starryeyes

Senior Member
Messages
1,558
Location
Bay Area, California
In my case, the computer is worse than the tv. The effect of the radiation on my brain is much more immediate and intense.
Sometimes I actually wear sunglasses while online, which kinda helps, and I almost never get on the computer or watch tv after 6 pm, or else it seriously disrupts my sleep.

I usually avoid most of the big network shows, and stick to PBS and the History Channel. But I gotta say I love Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert.

And teej I'm with you on the artsy films and documentaries. I need some new ones for my netflix list, so I'll be asking for your recommendations.

I'll be happy to share my 5 star movies with you DB and you can do the same with me. :Retro smile:

I almost always have shades on when I'm on the laptop unless it's dark out.

Jill, I'm so sorry to hear about your son. That's good that you figured out what causes the seizures and can help him avoid it.
 

BEG

Senior Member
Messages
1,032
Location
Southeast US
Watching Alice in Wonderland in 3D made my head spin. Great thing about 3D, though, is the glasses make the screen darker. Or is that just Tim Burton's style? He was the director, correct??:worried:

I think reading these threads is worse for "wired but tired" feeling than television. With television, my brain goes on autopilot. Right now it has sunk into deep, muddy waters.:(:(