Too much television(2)

Peng said that depression was not caused by binge-watching, but that binge-watching behavior could indicate that the person is suffering from other psychological pressures or stresses at school, in the workplace, or in one's private life.

He said that some of the people he had treated for binge-watching reported suffering from insomnia, and in some cases, patients told him that they could not even remember what they had watched.

Binge-watching has also been linked to physical problems. The researchers of the University of Texas study suggested a correlation between binge-watching and obesity, and according to the Guardian, researchers from the Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute have linked watching too much television to an increased risk of heart disease, stroke and cancer.

Furthermore, the American Heart Association has published studies suggesting that watching three hours of TV each day could double the likelihood of premature death.

Cultural phenomenon

The word "binge-watch" made the shortlist of the Oxford Dictionaries Word of the Year 2013. Coined in the 1990s, the word exploded into mainstream use in the past few years, especially after US-based video-streaming company Netflix in the US started hosting entire seasons all at once since 2013.

The prevalence of binge-watching as a lifestyle habit in China has been attributed to the popularity in recent years of digital streaming services like Youku and iQiyi, which have acquired rights for domestic and international TV series.

In an interview with Wired magazine, Vince Gilligan, the creator of Emmy Award-winning American crime drama series Breaking Bad, said that the "cultural creation of binge-watching" was what had made it possible for heavily serialized shows such as his to gain such a large following.

"Under the old paradigm - using the old technology of simply having first runs and then reruns on networks - I don't know that we would've reached the critical mass that we reached," he said.

In other words, binge-watching has become part of the popular consciousness. A recent China Youth Daily report indicated that of the college students they surveyed, nearly two out of five planned to spend the Spring Festival holidays staying at home most possibly watching television or anime.

Gu Li, a 19-year-old sophomore in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province majoring in international trade, is one such student. She is using the Spring Festival break as an opportunity to catch up on TV series she likes but didn't have time to watch during the semester, some of which total up to hundreds of episodes.

"You need a long period of time to watch and ponder over those shows," said Gu.

A worrying trend

The fact that binge-watching is so widespread has not made it any less of a concern to doctors and those who find themselves unable to break from the habit.

Gu blames her having put on extra weight to eating and drinking constantly while watching TV. She said that during semesters, she watches TV every night before she goes to sleep. During semester breaks, she watches TV for hours until her "mind wanders off."

"It's fine to binge-watch TV series over the weekend, but whether they can be ready for Monday is important," said Peng. "If it starts to affect the rest of your life, such as your work or your domestic obligations, then you need treatment."

Peng added that being obsessed with one particular TV series or a particular genre is fine so long as there is a fixed period for when one's watching frenzy will end. "But if you watch almost everything and all you do is sit there with a remote controller for hours, it's a sickness that needs to be treated."

Peng said that people who were single and lonely were at a higher risk of becoming addicted to television.

"If a person doesn't have a lot of friends, he or she might treat [TV series] as a digital partner," he said.

How to resist binge-watching

1. Set a limit for how long you'll spend watching before you start.

2. Keep watching if there's a pivotal plot coming, even if it means exceeding the limit you set, but stop right after that. If however, the show is full of dramatic ups and downs designed to hold the viewers' attention, stop as soon as you hit your time limit.

3. Instead of watching to the end of each episode, which usually ends on cliffhangers, try stopping in the middle of an episode, after a twist or before a change of scene.

4. Turn off the auto-play function on video-streaming services.

5. Make sure you also have other hobbies, such as sports, reading and socializing with friends.

Compiled from suggestions by Peng Guoqiu, Wang Xiaoyu and Gu Li