Here's Why We Binge Sh*tty Reality TV When We’re Depressed

In my mid-20s, I fell into a major emotional slump. It wasn’t capital-D depression, but I was feeling stalled at work and overwhelmed by adulting, and spent most nights sculpting my butt imprint into my couch. The little energy I had I used to scroll through Spotify to find something—anything!—to stream while playing Dots on my phone. To my rescue, oddly, came a li’l franchise called The Real Housewives.
Suddenly I was watching back-to-back episodes, obsessing over blowout fights in the Hamptons and abhorrent name-calling in Beverly Hills. The over-the-top-ness of their manufactured, rich-people problems was somehow exactly what I needed to wind down and put my own angst in perspective. No matter how crappy I felt—or how many hours I spent dissecting my boss’ cryptic e-mails—at least I wasn’t dating someone who pretended to have cancer.
Okay, sure, legit scientific studies 
(that were probably commissioned to personally victimise me, just sayin‘) found that more than four hours of screen time a day is linked to depression. But in binge moderation (yes, it exists), I still say reality marathons are kiiind of the greatest. US-based psychotherapist, Fran Walfish backs me up: ‘It’s an automatic distraction from whatever you’re dealing with,’ she says. ‘It breaks the almost obsessive cycle that depression can create in the mind.’
Obviously, Fran and I aren’t the only ones into a great Housewives escape. ‘There are so many shows I’ve been told to watch that I know are narratively demanding,’ says Claire Fallon, co-host of the Bachelor-dissecting podcast, Here To Make Friends. ‘But when I’m depressed, it’s time for hours of The Great British Bake Off. These shows are not designed to be challenging.’
More backup (just laying out a solid case here, okay?): ‘Reality TV is like Xanax mixed with a glass of rosé mixed with your childhood blanket,’ says actress Casey Wilson, who has talked about how the genre helped her grieve her mother’s death on her and Danielle Schneider’s Real Housewives podcast, Bitch Sesh.
So, while my personal funk is behind me, the world still feels high-key chaotic right now. Which is why until navigating life becomes easier than predicting one of Countess Luann’s meltdowns, you can still find me, most nights, worshipping at the altar of Andy Cohen.”    

Welcome to the reality TV support group.
I see you and I love you.

By: Jessica Goodman; Collage By KATIE BUCKLEITNER