How Giving Up Our TV Helped My Mental Health
I used to be a kid who can’t live without TV. I remember when I was young, I spend most of my after school time watching the telly. From afternoon’s Disney Channel line up till the primetime Encantadia (OG version) and Darna, my eyes are glued to this screen in our room for HOURS.
When I was in college, I had my room in our house. That’s where I usually do my homework and read books. I have my TV on till the wee hours of the day as background noise. Sometimes, I watch 24 hours channels just because I love watching TV so much.
When I lived alone, I always had problems with our TV connection. I don’t why our small black box always glitches so I decided to let go of the cable and our TV. It is also more economical since the only channels I watch are E! Channel, HBO, or Fox Movies which I can technically find on the internet if ever I want to watch any of their shows.
I can’t even remember the day year or day when I had my mom take our apartment’s TV back to her house. It’s been a long time and not once did I crave it. Perhaps, I was tired of watching Ang Probinsyano for many years.
Once I let go of this small squared monitor in our house and surrendered our cable subscription, I never craved or missed watching the television anymore. I don’t like watching the news and although I must admit, I am not up with the current trends on traditional media ads and current affairs, I don’t mind. The only thing I miss though is a huge screen. When I gave up my TV, I make do with watching on my laptop, or usually on my small cellphone. There are a lot of when my face was hit by my phone when my hands fail to hold it for a long time. As for my laptop, I only watch there when I love the show or movie. Maybe I should get an iPad in the future when money isn’t an issue? I don’t know. But I’ll love a bigger screen for my movies.
Anyway, since I let go of my TV, I noticed a lot of improvement in my mental health. I don’t wake up every morning only to listen to bad news anymore. Although I still sleep very late most of the days, at least I go to bed with a smile on my face because I only watch shows or movies that make me happy or satisfied. I can filter out the things that I want to hear but at the same time, still updated with emergencies and national issues true social media— that’s one of the biggest advantages of not watching or having a TV. I don’t need to take in every single news presented to me and only pick out those that are useful for my everyday life.
I still know how crappy this government though and I still have my firm stand on different social issues that our country is facing but at least, I can research and fact check thoroughly with the help of the internet.
To be honest, if I’m not working in a digital agency, I would’ve let go of my social media accounts now. I’ll probably only retain my Google or Twitter to be updated if ever natural disasters are happening around me. Maybe I can even have a newspaper subscription for the old school route. But this is what I’m sure of, for someone who has “privilege” like me… not owning a TV cleared my mind by 40% and improved my mental health as it made me relax and be calm more.
I know, not everyone has the privilege of not owning a TV since it is their only way to know what is happening around us and I’m not telling anyone to sell their television set or cut their cables. All I’m saying here is we have our ways to improve our mental health and only do what’s best for you. It may be watching the news for hours, reading a book, or perhaps isolating yourself like a monk but regardless of your ways, always prioritize yourself and your mental well-being.
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