Why Netflix Is A Friend In Depressed And Anxious Times, In My Humble Opinion

I'm going to level with my readers today. My personal life is super rocky right now. I very much have to live one day at a time but today for my one day, which started around 1:30AM for me and continued to snowball into turmoil, has me feeling broken and inferior. Rather than use this as an outlet for complaints, I'm going to explore some of my coping mechanisms and make my plan of attack.

I once read something from HelloGiggles online about The Office being used as a tool for calming anxiety and depression. Something about revisiting those episodes and having them as a comfort zone allow viewers to self care in the form of binge-watching. I could totally relate. I often lose myself in a series instead of getting too caught up in my head.

I feel like Netflix has such an amazing variety that turning to some entertainment when I'm my most sad or hopeless feeling, can always make me feel better. I liken it to when you're young and you have "sick movies," being movies you ALWAYS watch when you're home sick from school. The Princess Bride, Hook and Father of the Bride were at the top of my list. 

When I'm just feeling overwhelmed and done, I watch The Office, Friends, Seinfeld, Parks and Rec, or Malcolm in the Middle. They are short, hilarious and never get old (or so I think). When I need a good cry I watch Parenthood, if I need some dark life stuff I go with Breaking Bad, Dexter, or maybe even Mad Men. And then there are endless movies for any mood.

I'm that person who rarely watches something when it's all the rage...rarely. As soon as it fades from popularity I'll discover it and be like "Oh, this is what everyone was talking about!" My current obsession? Stranger Things. Yes, it is amazing. And exactly what I need tonight when I'm drowning my sorrows in tea before bed.

For me, escaping into those shows where you feel like you know the characters, helps distract from the stress, misery, and weight of life at it's darkest times. So instead of obsessing about an argument or messing up at work, I start watching Pam and Jim fall in love on the Office or Monica and Chandler hide their relationship on Friends, or Ron Swanson teach April his tricks on Parks and Rec. Then those life moments that feel like a kick when you're already down, become relate-able and funny. 

Ross gets a work suspension for having a meltdown? Joey loses his insurance and gets a hernia? Jim transfers because being around Pam was too hard? These are all moments we can share in. I've wanted to scream at my boss the way Ross did and freak out about a sandwich when you feel your life falling apart. Not having insurance and needing something done made me want to stay in pain too! And we never want to work around people who hurt us!

I know many people can get all of this from books, but I've always been a TV kinda girl. I watched Friends with my dad every week. We had routines and bonding time over the TV and when my mom left, my dad decided we didn't need to eat at the dining room table anymore, we could watch the Simpsons together and have homemade sweet and spicy chicken together. These were the moments that got us away from the sad moments of it being "just us two," and let us laugh again.

I've read many things that actually support my theory that Netflix can be your greatest ally when you're feeling so very bad about life stuff or when you're overly anxious. This isn't to say to ignore everything, call in sick and watch 4 days worth of series, this is just saying that if you can find something to look forward to at the end of your day where you wind down and maybe check in with a friend about characters and silly plot lines, go do it!

After I get a good night's sleep I should be better put together and far more eloquent tomorrow but you know where I'll be tonight, just getting more into Stranger Things to beat the blues. Text me if you need a little pick me up!