Science Says Crying Over Your Fav TV Shows Is Totally Healthy
When Glee had to say goodbye to Cory Monteith's Finn. When Family Guy killed their family pet. When the Red Wedding went down on Game of Thrones. These moments, and many more like them, have caused TV fanatics to lose it. Full on tears like a loved one had died fall like a summer storm. You think it's silly, but according to psychology experts...it's totally normal, and healthy to cry over your favorite characters.
Jennifer Barnes, assistant professor of psychology at the University of Oklahoma, explained to Time, "The interesting thing is that our brains aren't really built to distinguish between whether a relationship is real or fictional." She added, "So these friendships can convey a lot of real-world benefits."
It makes 100% sense. Whether or not you binge Breaking Bad from start to finish, or go through the heartbreaking torture week to week with This Is Us, the fact is that you spend a hell of a lot of time with these characters. In fact, we probably spend more time with fictional friends than we do those in real life. So when something insane happens to them, it hits us in the feels just as hard as it would if they were our BFF we have coffee dates with every Friday afternoon.
Now that we’ve talked about how totally normal it is to care a little too much about TV characters, let’s talk about how it ups your health. Time also reported that those who were attached deeply to their fictional friends had higher self-esteem, didn’t feel as lonely as others and had a greater sense of belonging. Which, duh! When your real life friends are all too busy to hang, who’s always there? Reruns of your favorite shows, that’s who!
