Move over reiki, aromatherapy, hypnotherapy, massage, herbal medicines, online streaming, etc., all of which are known for their stress relieving properties, and come at a price. It's the idiot box, or the television, that seems to be making its place as the top stress buster for many. And why not, watching TV is an activity that doesn't incur any added expenses, apart from the electricity bills of course. “Every individual attempts to escape from the monotonous, work-filled, and stress-induced life. For doing so, people find the TV as the most easily accessible media that they think would put them in a state of relaxation,” said Dr. Sameh Hassan, asst. professor of psychiatry at Dalhousie University, Canada. He cited a survery that was conducted in 2001, in which 3668 Saudi individuals were sampled, and the survey showed that each individual spent 26.7 hours per week watching TV. Different levels of stress are encountered by every individual, and it's imperative to release this stress, otherwise it would jeopardize our physical health. “When we are faced with a situation in which we need to defensively act, the brain releases adrenaline that raises the blood pressure and prepares us to react so that we are relieved. But if we fail in responding to the situation, these hormones remain unreleased for a long period of time, causing stress such as, tension in the muscles, unfocused anxiety and rapid heartbeats,” said Nineveh Camara, a consultant in the St. Vincent Clay Hospital, Brazil. She said this accumulated stress could end up weakening the immune system, making the individual susceptible to illness. Stress has become a fact in life and to wholly eliminate it seems to be impossible. Nevertheless, there is need to manage it so that it wouldn't harm our health. And we can do this by indulging in activities depending upon our interests. “In essence, there is no magical formula regarding what to do in order to relieve one's stress. Different people find different things that would sooth them, such as, some find comfort in prayer, others in relaxation, massage, sports, socializing....etc, ‘' explained Dr. Hassan. Indeed, TV offers a pleasant distraction from the rut of life, workplace dilemmas, and other pressurizing situations. Reem Khaled, a Saudi working mother of two kids and a PHD student at King Abdul Aziz University, says after a busy day, she finds solace in TV. “I am a workaholic person who works all day, and when I am at home in the night, I study and research for my thesis. Working for 20 hours a day drains out all my energy. But because I watch TV when I am working, it keeps me kicking and ticking,” said Khaled, adding that listening to soothing music and talking to friends also helps her release all her negativities. There are various TV programs, shows and movies in categories of entertainment, news, interviews, reality shows, etc. “When I was looking for a better career opportunity and was under social pressure, TV worked as a perfect stressbuster as I would watch movies. On the contrary, at times I would also feel tired when I would be sitting infront of the TV for prolonged hours. So TV can work both ways: it helps release stress while it can also stress us out,” said said Itteeq-Ur-Rahman, a Pakistani management consultant in Jeddah. He said that watching TV does not necessarily helps relieve stress. “However, if it does, the reason is that TV viewing temporarily takes away the mind from any distracting thoughts, enabling the person to better concentrate and focus later on,” said Rahman. For children too, a day's hard work is often rewarded with some time allotted to them for cartoon viewing by their parents. “Children enjoy cartoons because cartoon characters, such as, the Spiderman, superman, etc., have superpowers with which they can do fantastic things, and the children wish to project themselves as these characters and in these situations,” said Camara. “However, TV can lead to stressful responses and violent behavior among children. For example, this can happen when children watch violent cartoons. Uncontrolled viewing can keep them from participating in other cultural activities and social interaction, which may cause disorders in the development of their personalities,” she added. Besides the idiot box, social networking sites, such as facebook, twitter, etc., have gained popularity with their variety of activities, games and chat sessions.
