Your eyes are glued to a screen for hours. Laughing, crying and as every hour passed by, you told yourself just one more episode. You’re attached. There’s no doubt that the majority of the human race is addicted to at least one TV show, whether it be on cable, Netflix, Hulu or a DVD pack of all seasons of “One Tree Hill.”

Humans love an alternate reality– a fake life, especially if a person dislikes the one he has. If they struggle with a mental illness such as depression or anxiety or any other problem they want to escape from, TV is frequently the answer to fix the complexity of life for a little while. When people are feeling low, they want to distract themselves. In an article on NewYorkTimes.com, a psychologist from the University of Manitoba, Robert Mcilwraith, states that people watch television when they are sad, upset, worried or lonely.

According to PsychologyToday.com, British psychologist Edward B. Titchener believed that the reason humans become so glued to television is because of the ability to see the feelings of others and relate to them in the same way that a person empathizes with another in real life. People feel what other people feel.

“TV shows give me something to look forward to,” junior Braiden Brown said. “When you have a show you really like, you grow to have a connection with its characters even though they don’t know you.”

Another factor in the reasonings of why TV is so addicting is that watching it is a way to kill time. One of the first impulses is to grab the remote, relax in the recliner and forget about other responsibilities that actually need to be dealt with. Television shows are also sources to fulfill people’s entertainment hunger because of the ways they hook audiences.

“I think TV shows are full of drama and action and people love both of those,” senior CJ Swift said. “Once you start a TV show with drama and action, it’s hard to stop watching because it’s full of stuff that people like.”

Some may say that TV is harmful because of how incredibly obsessed people are with it. Others may argue otherwise. Because of how addicting television is, the human race tends to focus on fake reality rather than their own.