Can excessive love for series be considered an addiction? Or is watching another episode in the evening just a pleasant pastime? It all depends on the plot, says the psychologist.
Many people are currently overly obsessed with series — they buy subscriptions to online platforms and spend all their free time after work in front of their laptops. Sometimes, a series night flows into the same night. Instead of living their own lives and realizing their own desires, a person retreats into an invented world and lives the life of the characters.
According to psychologist Alisa Metelina, it is possible to determine whether this is a hobby or an addiction based on the plot of the series.
"It’s one thing if a person is watching some detective series, dystopia, or something that has some meaning, meaning there is a sufficiently thought-out deep plot — that’s generally normal. But if a person is watching so-called soap operas and cannot detach from them, we can guarantee that they have fallen into some kind of addiction," the expert said to the TV channel "Zvezda."
Addiction always implies a replacement of actions in the real world. A person lives the life of an invented character, experiencing their emotions and going through their experiences as if they were their own.
Alisa Metelina compared this addiction to gaming addiction. Just like a gamer, a "series addict" associates themselves with a character while distancing themselves significantly from family and friends.
Psychotherapist Stanislav Poltorak spoke about various addictions. According to the expert, people who are not doing well in life are prone to them, and they do not want to solve problems or think about what they lack for happiness. Addiction is an opportunity to escape from reality into an illusory world: narcotic, alcoholic, virtual, or gaming. A world where a person will be successful and confident, where they will receive unconditional and constant pleasure, albeit surrogate.
Most often, people are addicted to computer games and social networks. The expert placed a passion for gambling in second place. Most addicts are aware of their problem and can even cope with it on their own. However, they do not want to admit to themselves or their loved ones that their hobby has long transformed into something else.
The only thing that loved ones can do is to set a strict ultimatum for the addict. They need to isolate them from all sources of financial support.
"If you are addicted and earn and lose money yourself, then you eat separately, pay for the apartment separately, do everything separately. We live, you play — sorry. This is basically the only way. A person must understand that they have become someone who is of no interest and use to anyone. Conditionally speaking, you were Vasya, now you are Petya, we do not know Petya, and we do not want to know," the psychotherapist explained.
