Is it just me, or is there something really insidious about all these ‘binge-watching = depression’ stories popping up as of late? I’m talking about stories like this, which run with the results of a single, small-scale university study (red flags waving immediately, there) to patchwork a smothering quilt of consensus.
Whatever the actual results of the study (because that’s not what news orgs are really interested in) or the actual content of the articles (because they invariably top-load with clickbait sensationalism in the headline and lede, hiding the actual story in the deeper paragraphs — yes, even the good ones do it), the general impression sews together your typical depression stigma with the nasty implication that doing stuff you like in a singular burst of doing-ness must be a bad thing because other, normal people don’t do it.
Whatever the motivations of the original study (one can ask if there’s a real point to what the researchers are exploring, or if they’re just fulfilling publishing criteria) it’s the way it’s spun in the media that carries a dangerous tinge along the lines of ‘if you do this thing there’s something wrong with you’. And that always makes me question what agenda they’re trying to push.