Watching TV really is bad for your health
Watch an hour or two of daytime television and you will have contracted a dozen diseases. After tuning in to a couple of hours of mindless shows, I’ve decided I may have the following afflictions: psoriasis, eczema, bipolar disorder, irritable bowel syndrome, insomnia, overactive bladder, hair loss, atrial fibrillation and dry eyes. I am a mess.
A doctor would tell you I have none of those things, but the TV wants to convince me otherwise. Every other commercial is trying to sell a prescription medicine, with the not-subtle-at-all message that even though you are feeling well and have your medical conditions under control, you might not be as healthy as you think you are. It’s time to call the doctor and ask for this drug — our drug.
The media have been changing the doctor-patient relationship for years. When I was a new mother and wasn’t sleeping enough, I presented my doctor with a list of the conditions and diseases I thought I might have, based on web searches of my symptoms. (Go to a search engine and type in “buzzy headache with ringing in ears” and you will be worried and distracted for the rest of the day.) The doctor did an exam and then sighed and told me to “stop Googling stuff.” Any doctor will tell you his job has become more complex as the balance has shifted, from a patient sharing symptoms and the doctor offering diagnosis and treatment, to the opposite interaction. When I took the doctor’s advice and stopped researching symptoms, I was cured of all my aches and pains.
Commercials jumped the shark when they started selling Viagra during family viewing hours. You’ll still see those spots with couples holding hands and looking at the sunset while sitting in separate bathtubs, but it’s more common now to see women doing yoga in absorbent but sleek underpants. The ads telling us we’re all suffering with some ailment are eclipsing the other commercials-the ones selling cars and hairspray and soap. (Soap operas were named that because of who was sponsoring them. There aren’t many soap operas any more, but maybe the ones that are left should be called pill operas.)
Isn’t the modern world making us all anxious enough without adding to the heap with worries that we could be doing more about that bald spot? The criticism of beauty magazines has long been that the images are making women believe we should buy more things to make us prettier. The drug companies are going a big step further, telling us we all aren’t quite healthy enough. It’s telling, though, that the commercial that suggests a second or third drug might be the one that finally cures the depression, also carries a side-effect disclaimer that the drug may cause “worsened depression.” The patient ought to mention that part to the doctor when she goes asking for this new drug.
The cure, for now, is to stop watching TV. I’ve begun to wonder if I might have chronic dry eye. My eyes were itchy and red when I got up this morning. And now that the TV mentions it, I’ve noticed those dry patches on my arm. Could that be eczema? You know, there’s a new cream for that.
Beth Dolinar is a writer, documentary producer and college professor. Her work has appeared in newspapers, magazines and on WQED-TV. Born and raised in southwestern Pennsylvania, Beth has degrees from Cal U and from Northwestern University. She and her family live in the Pittsburgh area. Her column appears twice a month in the Herald-Standard. Beth can be reached at bdolinar@aol.com