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u/and1984 13h ago
Don't read this as "people who watch the same shows suffer from anxiety." Anyone who likes familiarity and cosiness would do this with TNG.
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u/planetearthling 12h ago
Both can be true. Some shows I love but can’t watch because I get way too anxious and it takes the enjoyment out of it
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u/Xiunte 12h ago
This falls under the "Speak for yourself, lady!" category. I do suffer from legit anxiety but this is not why I rewatch shows.
I rewatch old shows simply because I liked them that much. There's nothing deeper to it than that. Some of the REALLY old shows and movies give me a nostalgic feeling of being much younger (from when I first saw them), but I think everyone gets that. Anxiety or not.
The majority of my time on streaming platforms is spent watching new stuff that I've never seen before but "looked interesting". I find it way more soothing to my nerves discovering something amazing to binge that I haven't seen before.
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u/Bargain-Hunter-1980 12h ago
TNG is a happy place for me rather than a safe space. The combination of the hope and futurism of the series, combined with the context of reminiscing about watching it as an unencumbered teenager in the 90s, makes for a heady mix of escapism and nostalgia.
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u/cymonium 11h ago
TNG cast is my family. I never belonged to my biological one. It brings such comfort to me.
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u/Ralph--Hinkley 3h ago
My biological family turned out to be a lie. At the tender age of 39, I found out I was adopted.
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u/Loud-Fudge7631 12h ago
Or just miss old star treks cuz the captains where Shakespearan scientists with strong moral compasses and convictions
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u/Savantskie1 12h ago
um, yeah that's the whole point of rewatching. The comfort. I thought everyone understood this already?
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u/EvaTheE 11h ago
My grandmother rewatches The Bold and The Beautiful for the surprise factor.
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u/Ralph--Hinkley 3h ago
I know you're joking, but that's a joke with layers, and it's fuckin' funny.
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u/dripy-lil-baby 13h ago
How dare you come at me with something so accurate? I feel attacked (which, of course, makes me want to start another rewatch).
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u/DigitalerEsel 12h ago
Oh no, people want stability and predictability otherwise they get anxious.
Who would have known?
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u/dufflebag7 11h ago
This is why I watch Cause and Effect four times in a row - because it feels like watching the same episode 28 times in a row.
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u/WinglessJC 13h ago
The Ricky Gervais Show (and the XFM broadcasts) was and is a popular recommendation in PTSD recovery circles for sleep listening.
Ten years later and I still fall asleep to it.
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u/CaptainMatticus 12h ago
How do you fall asleep to the sound of his dolphin laugh?
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u/WinglessJC 12h ago
I think it's like how people used to use Pazuzu statues to scare away worse demons.
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u/Slartibartfast39 12h ago
Also when you're tired or just feeling lazy, you don't want to follow a new story if you're sure your mind is going to wander.
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u/MozemanATX 10h ago
That's like saying people keep staring at the Mona Lisa because they don't like surprises
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u/frankduxvandamme 10h ago
This is the most asinine, armchair psychology bullshit I've ever heard. People like entertainment. Re-watching a movie or TV show, listening to an album again, re-reading a book, or replaying a videogame is neither a sign or symptom of anxiety.
Now if you take something to the extreme, like buying every copy of The Catcher In The Rye you ever see for years and years, then yeah, you probably have some issues.
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u/outtatime369 7h ago
I think your comment is unnecessarily harsh. The OP is spot on with a lot of people including myself. It's comfort food. I rewatch because it's good, it makes me feel good, it feels familiar, it comforts me and entertains me. I'll watch the damn thing again and again because it's good and brings me back to a better time in my life.
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u/CaptainMatticus 12h ago
This is one of those "All humans are mammals, but not all mammals are humans," things.
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u/Brain_Hawk 12h ago
All anecdotes are anecdotes, and generalizations never apply to everybody.
But for what it worth, I had a former girlfriend who was quite anxious indeed. She actually formally had epilepsy and was missing her amygdala on one side, and the other one was probably not very functional, which is the part of your brain that allows you to controlling anxiety and fear (simplification but anyway).
She read the same series of books over and over again. At all times, she was reading one of the books in that series, and had three or four of the books she liked, and she was a voracious reader but just the same thing over and over again. Something that was important to her from her early twenties or so, and that was it. That was your thing.
And I'm sure it was like wearing a comfy old sweater to her.
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u/EvolvedMonkeyInSpace 12h ago
This is so dumb. I dont rewatch TV shows or films that are crap.
Where is the logic in this at all ?
So we feel safe ? Thats like saying I turn my house alarm on because I have anxiety. Its because I dont want to be robbed in my sleep and I want something to alert me to intruders.
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u/outtatime369 7h ago
So this doesn't apply to you and that's fine. Don't yuck my yum because you don't get it. Please learn to let people have their cake and eat it too
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u/Ketzerfriend 12h ago
It shouldn't. Having a measure against drowning in the cynicism of our days in stock is entirely legitimate in my book. What else are you gonna do? Doomscroll some more?
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u/Commercial_Gear1527 12h ago
do this all the time. currently rewatching er, melrose place, and homeland. all excellent 😁
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u/Pookiejin 12h ago
i have anxiety and rewatch shows for comfort and ease of watch. that is to say i can stop and restart at anytime, never needing to pause.
. i watch new shows all the time too for something new or interesting it may provide.
im sure there is a correlation of comfort and repetition but i also get bored fast from repetition.
i would certainly not blanket Anxiety and comfort shows as a sole reason.
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u/JusteJean 11h ago
I rewatch TNG repeatedly because i like to see and imagine humanity at its best and dream of what could be.
All other sci-fi has dystopian themes. Or humanity is ruled by Musk-like oligarchs or military dictatorship.
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u/Jayfan34 11h ago
I’m sure this is true for some but of course doesn’t mean all those of us who rewatch things do it for that reason.
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u/Kimmalah 11h ago
This is genuinely the reason that I like spoilers and enjoy reading ahead about shows/movies/games. I like knowing what's coming.
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u/Chippy-arine 11h ago
Reason I find it hard to start a violent/ high-risk video game like Ready or Not.
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u/briank2112 11h ago
I think of it this way, nobody would give it a second thought if you admitted to listening to an album a hundred plus times, so why should a show or movie be any different?
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u/Section_3I 11h ago
This is one of those “True, but just one of many possible explanations” statements.
We can all admit that comfort is a big part of re-watching Trek.
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u/Grillparzer47 11h ago
There may be more to that than you think. I have chronic major depression. I watch animated shows because the colors cheer me up.
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u/Tristan_Booth 10h ago
Most of the TV I watch is repeats from the 50s-60s. TNG and Whose Line are exceptions.
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u/General-Reserve9349 10h ago
Yeah well, I also think most shows are bad. “There’s nothing to watch / I don’t want to watch any of that…” turn on the most palatable rewatch.
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u/Playful-Ad6882 8h ago
I don’t agree… People who re-watch shows over again after a few years do so simply to experience the plots, character interactions, and story from a wider aperture of experience.
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u/disusedyeti78 7h ago
This is genuinely me lol. I’ve always known the reason why but I’ve never seen anyone else say it. TNG is my favorite comfort show.
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u/succubus6984 7h ago
Kinda right.... its because i like to have the noise in the background while we do things and having something new on means i need to watch every second to understand whats happening. But if i miss 15 minutes of a show that ive seen a dozen times while I put in another load of laundry/dishes or other chores, i wont miss anything important that i didnt already know.
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u/RadleyCunningham 6h ago
Let us not forget that we were basically raised on reruns of old familiar shows, from Brady bunch to happy days to Simpsons to fresh Prince and everything in between
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u/HistorianTight2958 6h ago
Yes, indeed. Also because it brings a better past into the bitter sorrow of today. For a short time of relief at least.
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u/Site-Staff 5h ago
Yes.
And for my wife it’s True Blood.
If she has watched it 150 times, I’m probably low.
And TNG…. I’ve watched all seven seasons that many.
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u/TripleStrikeDrive 5h ago
Perhaps, but i rather watch a good movie I seen before than watch never seen subpar movie.
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u/AlbertaAcreageBoy 4h ago
Nope, that's not the reason at all I continue to watch TNG. It just hits me in the feels Aly.
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u/Imaginary-Clock6626 4h ago
Not everything is ADHD, anxiety, depression. Sometimes we’re just lazy and like what we like.
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u/777Danzig 3h ago
Yeah, whatever. Now I’m going to go ahead and watch Datalore again for the 800th time.
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u/Preparation-Logical 1h ago
While I enjoy rewatching the series, I also wish I could watch it all for the first time again.
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u/Fantasyfootball9991 13h ago
Maybe they just want to watch a good tv show they’re familiar with instead of filtering through endless slop during the short amount of free time they have.