Choosing Healthy Movies And TV For Yourself And Your Family

Even though you may not be aware of it, what you watch in the Movies or on TV can have a tremendous amount of impact on your emotional health.

Aside from violence promoting aggression, there are many other responses that are as harmful to your wellbeing. 

By knowing what to avoid, you will go a long way toward reducing stress and developing a healthier response to a number of issues in your life.

• Live talk shows and fiction

Perhaps some of the most damaging content comes from live talk shows. Unfortunately, when you sit there and watch people crying, screaming obscenities at each other, or otherwise losing control of themselves, you may also be feeling the same negative emotions. 

You may even find that your own emotional responses will begin to change to less healthy patterns. Therefore, if you are going to watch these programs, it is crucial to see how you feel before and after watching. If you feel depressed, upset, or unhappy, it is time to try watching something else.

In some cases you may feel that it is not possible to be influenced by live talk shows.  That said, these programs are distinctly different from fictional content.

Among other things, when you watch a show that is clearly fiction, it is easy enough to remind yourself of that fact. This, in turn, makes it possible to detach from mimicking a wide range of behaviors. 

On the other hand, when you watch a talk show, you cannot simply say it is an act, or something written for the sake of entertainment.

As a result, there is a subtle unconscious signal that this type of behavior has more value than your own normal pattern. Therefore, even if the coping methods are negative ones, you may be more inclined to adopt them.

How to choose healthy movies and TV to watch

• Choose what will make you feel better

When choosing what to watch, it is important to find things that will help you feel better. As an example, if humor is missing from your life, it would be of benefit to choose a comedy.

There are a wide range of preview programs that can encourage choosing the best comedy. Use them and promote a healthy watching of TV and movies for yourself and family.

That said, you will also need to monitor other aspects of the program for troublesome content.  You may eventually come to the conclusion that taped programs from years ago are a better option than tuning into modern programming.

• Consider and talk loud to the TV guest

For every talk show in the TV, consider what the guest has to offer. Consider the thoughts and ideas of the TV guest before making decisions of spending time with the guest of the show.

If after due considerations, you establish that you want to spend time with the guest of the program, It is very right to disagree with a TV guest in most opinions.

Whether you are alone or with your family, you can converse loudly with the guest. You can express your view points by challenging or asking question about what you have heard or seen in the show.

You can mute the show for a while during the commercial time to give yourself and family member’s time to challenge what the guest has said. You talk as if the guest is physically present.

Varieties of things to express your own view point about include words, messages, jokes, visuals and lots more.

This habit can enable you and your family members choose healthy movies and TV programs. It will encourage you not to agree with everyone but also express your own decisions and belief on a topic.

• Always use TV guide for program selection

Regular use of TV program guide will enable you and your family members inculcate the habit of viewing exact program and not just anything.

The best time to use the TV program guide is the beginning of the week. This will enable you take your time in selecting good shows and programs for yourself and family for the week. This habit will definitely promote choosing healthy movies and TV programs at all time.

• Teach your child to seek permission to watch movies and TV

Instill the habit by teaching your child to seek permission to watch movies and TV even before turning the TV on. This teaching should follow the teaching of your child asking to go visit a friend or go out to play.

By inculcating this habit, you will create the opportunity of asking what your child wants to watch and why the child wants to watch it. This idea will also enable you monitor the child’s activities on TV.

This habit should be taught early to the child so the child can grow with it. You and your family should see movies and TV as a privilege and not a right. Therefore, the permission to watch television must be after the completion of all chores.

• Inculcate the habit of turning off TV at the end of a selected program

For yourself and your family, start early to inculcate the habit of always turning off the TV set at the end of a selected program.

TV has a way of making one addicted and wanting to see more. This is because they are a wide range of entertainment units at all hours of the day.

To encourage turning off the TV after a program, always shut the televisions door. If your TV has no door, use a table cloth to cover it.

• Opt for interactive movies and TV shows

It has been established that staring at the screen for a long time is quite unhealthy. To make great use of TV and movies, it is encouraged to choose interactive programs.

These programs engage the viewers which include you and your family. A good example of these interactive games is trivia games.

• Keep TV and movies out of the bedroom

Another very important way of choosing healthy movies and TV is by ensuring that movies and TVs are not in the bedroom.

The bedroom should strictly be rest and not for watching movies and TV. Watching TV and movies can be a very unhealthy habit and that is why it should be discouraged.

• Stock the TV room with non-screen related products

Another interesting way of choosing movies and TV is by stocking the television room with non-screen related products like puzzles, game boards, books and lots more.

These items encourage limiting TV time and instead of always watching regular television and movies, working on these items is another trick to choosing healthy movies and TV.

• Turn off movies and television during meal time

Choosing healthy television and movies involves not watching the screens during the time of meals. That habit can be too detrimental to the health that it is not encouraged for both adults and children.

Adults however, should set example for younger family members by always adhering to those instructions of restricting screen time.

Conclusion

As our society comes to rely more and more on mental health services, it is becoming abundantly clear that movies and TV contribute to unhealthy coping patterns. 

While many pundits target violent movies and TV programs, it is also important to realize that live talk shows can be far more dangerous. 

At the very least, if you are going to watch something for the sake of entertainment, it is best to choose something that will make you feel uplifted and happier.