This is the sixth post in the Grey Thinking series, Five of the most underrated coping skills.
This isn’t going to come as any surprise to those of you who have followed Grey Thinking for any length of time…. but watching DVDs of TV series is one of my favorite “coping skills.” I may be stretching the idea of a “coping skill” a little bit here, but anything to justify my House marathons…
I like to watch four hours of old Grey’s Anatomy episodes (especially during evenings that I’m depressed) because I can check out. I can focus on Meredith’s dark and twisty issues and secretly hope that Meredith and Derek get back together (clearly I’m in the middle of season three right now). And it’s not that House’s misery or Meredith’s really screwed up love life makes me feel better about my own or anything. I just like relationships. And sarcasm.
Checking out like this is probably not THE healthiest coping mechanism – but it’s much better than the eating disorder. Sometimes I am overwhelmed and I need to check out. It’s hard for me to turn off my brain, in a sense. My mind can wander while I read a book, exercise, walk the dog, clean, etc. For some reason though, my mind doesn’t wander when I’m watching House. Things seem so still and the chaos of my life is put on hold.
I say “DVDs” rather than House / Grey’s Anatomy because I have friends who use movies to cope. Personally, I get really impatient with movies and spend a lot of time thinking “is it over yet?” They’re more frustrating to me than soothing… but to each her/his own.
photo credit: holamun2
Tags: Anorexia, binge eating disorder, bulimia, coping mechanism, coping skill, dark and twisty, derek, dvd, eating disorder, EDNOS, grey's anatomy, House, meredith, tv marathon, tv series
Grey Thinking 
October 27, 2009 at 4:14 pm
I obviously love DVDs as well, particularly dramas where the characters have “issues.” My current favorites are House, Grey’s, and SVU. I think that there is nothing wrong with “checking out” for a few hours if you need to. Oftentimes things can seem so overwhelming, and if you just take a step back and distract for awhile, you can come back to work/school/life feeling more relaxed and all of a sudden, things seem more manageable.
For me though, I also use my TV dramas as not only a nice break from life, but as a way to help me sort through my emotions and thoughts. I think one of the reasons why I love House so much is because I can relate to his character. I can watch an episode and think “oh that’s exactly how I feel.” I have brought up House quotes (and Grey’s) in therapy before when I don’t know how to put into words exactly what I want to say, and more often then not my therapist gets my point (it doesn’t hurt that she loves House too haha). My point is, I don’t think you should think of DVD watching as “checking out”. That sounds too negative. Think of it more as a therapy session for a few hours 🙂
October 28, 2009 at 1:31 am
You know once, I decided I was watching too much tv and so just stopped. Wasn’t that hard didn’t even really miss it. BUT I also realised I was getting more tired and more stressed then normal for the same sort of circumstances… I realised that I wasn’t getting my “check out” time that I would get in watching TV! It was NECESSARY for me to watch some easy going tv to just enjoy!
I too LOVE TV series on DVD, in fact I love them far more than movies (I’m in to character development). I think that the main thing with this is that it doesn’t prevent you living life. Like if the concept of checking out stops you going to work or engaging with humanity, its a problem, but otherwise I think its a BRILLIANT coping strategy! Along these lines, my counsellor made me schedule in regular thinking/nap times in the arvo’s when I could just lay in bed and think or nap if i fell asleep etc becaues I NEEDED to make sure i had regular time outs!
Go the check out time!!!
(PS I love your skills they’re great :))