Binge-Watching Series Linked To Insomnia In Young Adults, Says Study

If you are a person who binge-watches television or shows online, you might want to change that particular habit of yours or risk suffering from poorer sleep quality, more fatigue, and increased insomnia.

A new study published on Aug. 15 in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine has suggested that an increased cognitive alertness is occurring in young adults as a result of binge-watching. The study suggests that because most binge-able shows end with cliffhangers the lack of closure creates the desire in viewers to keep watching the show, which can adversely affect their sleep quality and cause insomnia.

Researchers from the University of Michigan and the Leuven School for Mass Communication Research in Belgium conducted surveys on 423 young adults who were 18 to 25 years old and their television-watching habits and the frequency of their binge-watching sessions. They also observed the participants’ sleep routine and quality and questioned them about the feeling of fatigue and the presence of sleep disorders.

The study defined binge-watching as "watching multiple consecutive episodes of the same television show in one sitting on a screen, be it a television, laptop, computer or tablet."

By this definition, more than 80 percent of young adults identified themselves as binge-watchers in the survey, with 20.2 percent of them binge-watching television few times in a week in the month of July.

They also reported suffering from more fatigue, poorer sleep quality and showed more symptoms of insomnia.

Though a lack of sleep and insomnia can be attributed to many other reasons, the study suggested that there was a 98% chance that its cause was binge-watching. The habit led to “intellectual alertness” before going to sleep, which causes the mind to be engaged in thoughts about the show just watched and this excited state does not allow the body to get adequate rest.

“We found that the more often young people binge-watch, the higher their cognitive pre-sleep arousal,” said Liese Exelmans, a doctoral candidate at the University of Leuven in Belgium and the lead author of the study. “That in turn negatively affected sleep quality, fatigue and insomnia,” she added in a press release.

"Bingeable shows often have a complex narrative structure that makes viewers become completely immersed into the story," said Jan Van den Bulck, a professor at the University of Michigan and one of the researchers involved in the study. "This intense engagement with television content could require a longer period to 'cool down' before going to sleep, thus affecting sleep overall."

According to researchers, relaxation techniques and mindfulness could be valuable approaches with regards to binge-watching intervention and as treatments to reduce alertness after a binge session.

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine also released pointers to help viewers get adequate sleep by binge-watching responsibly, in May. The guidelines listed in the advisory include “setting an episode limit each night before you begin watching” and taking a break between each episode to escape from the “auto-play” loop. It also advised viewers to turn off all screens at least a half-hour prior to sleeping in the night.

It was also suggested that streaming services such as Netflix should enable viewers to “pre-select their maximum viewing duration before beginning each viewing session” as binge-watching often occurred unintentionally.