Binge-watching TV shows can lead to sleep problems, researcher says

The mental excitement caused by binge-watching a TV series can increase the risk of sleep problems, according to PhD research by a Leuven student.

Liese Exelmans of the University of Leuven’s School for Mass Communication Research surveyed 423 people aged between 18 and 25 about their watching behaviour and sleep quality; 80% said they regularly watched several episodes of a TV series in one sitting.

More than 25% of those questioned said they binge-watch a few times each month, and one in five does it several times a week. One-third of the binge-watchers sleep worse than their peers who don’t do it.

The problem is not linked to sleep duration, because the majority of the participants sleep almost eight hours a night. “It’s the quality of the night’s rest that is significantly worse for binge-watchers,” said Exelmans in a statement. “Binge-watchers regularly have more trouble getting to sleep and in a number of cases they struggles with sleeplessness.” Earlier research indicates that these issues don’t occur when people watch scheduled TV programmes.

The sleep problems are caused by mental over-stimulation, according to Exelmans. “After a few hours of binge-watching, you are still too occupied with storylines and characters,” she said.

She advises people to relax regularly during a series marathon. “There are different ways to do that – even watching regular TV for half an hour can help,” she said. “But less binge-watching is of course the most efficient solution.”