Obsessed with tv shows/books/movies?

I'm not sure it's "normal" or not, but I have felt the exact same way. I've really only experienced it once in my life, and I'm experiencing it now as I have been for a little over a year now. I don't mind saying that the television show is "Lost", which ended last summer. I watch the old episodes as much as I can, but think about it pretty much every day. The weird thing is that I get very sad about it. It may sound strange, but I felt emotionally connected to the characters on the show, and sort of "miss them". I do miss the show but what I'm talking about is missing the characters. I feel like I want to be in the show and part of that world. I suppose it says something about how I feel about my own life and the world I am in, which I am aware of. But the show gives me a world I crave, people I want to be around. Life on an island. I feel what you're saying, sometimes I get so sad I can't do much of anything at all because I don't even care. It sounds stupid seeing it all written out but it's the truth.

Hey there,

I thought I was the only one who experienced this. I have been dealing with this for 28 years. I am sad to say that it does not get any easier as you get older.

No matter what people tell you, do not -- and I repeat DO NOT -- try to cut yourself off cold turkey. Start by taking small breaks from your obsession, maybe thirty minutes at a time. So indulge in your obsession (one episode) and then take a break. After about a week of this, try extending the time in between indulgences.

Fan fiction is also a way to stave off an obsession without indulging in it. It also gives you control over your obsession by allowing you to control the story lines.

There is medication that can help you with obsession, but while it does this, it creates a different problem. Let me explain. When you have an obsession, it is usually a coping mechanism for some unhappiness that you feel. If you take away that coping mechanism without having any other mechanism, you may experience severe depression.

Just out of curiosity, do you have ADHD?

I'm obsessed with supernatural on cw and that's exactly how I am!!lol...I'm in love with jenson ackles lol:)))

I have a major obsession with a tv show too. I am completely obsessed with the showtime series Weeds. I can not stop thinking of this show. I watched season 1-5 in less than 2 weeks. I have had many dreams that I was in the show and hanging out with the characters. And when I finished watching all the seasons, the 6th season was playing one episode a week. So I would watch each new one every week, and on the days the new episodes werent out, i would go through the older episodes again. Now i am waiting for season 7. And I have already watched season 1-6 about 3 times. I feel a strong emotional attachment to this show.

The same thing happens with me, except I don't necessarily have an "excuse." It's easy to get invested in a well-made TV show (or movie/book/comic), because they're made to be that way; the characters are supposed to feel real and relatable, and the situations are supposed to make you laugh, cry, what have you. Even re-watching episodes, sometimes it's just nice to be able to predictably incite a certain feeling when you're unhappy or upset (like seeing the "will-they-won't-they" couple get together). It's definitely not abnormal (after all, other people are making these websites you visit), but that's not to say it's entirely healthy after a certain point. Don't feel bad about enjoying these shows, but if it starts to feel a little out of control, try to cut back. Everything in moderation and all that junk.

The exact same thing happened to me. Criminal Minds is my TV show of choice. I'm 100% obbsessed. I've seen every episode at least twice.

I think It is kinda normal. I have never been in a situation where i become so obsessed with something I cant go withought diong it, but I think what you need is a nice long walk. Take a day when your feeling especialy depressed, and destract yourself with something Then the next day, tell us how you felt that day you walked off your depression...

Not sure if it's normal, but I can relate a little bit, it happened to me with a TV show also. I watched every episode of every season multiple times in a row, dreamt of the characters and myself interacting in the story, you get the idea. It only happened once in my case but I consider it a painful, bittersweet depression that's hard to get out of.

THIS IS ME!
I am an adult (late 20's), not in school, have a VERY good Social Life, have a Fiancee, a good job and co workers etc. and this has been my life for about 15 years now. I have had MANY obsessions over the years. I can honestly say some of them get better, some of them get worse, and some stay the same. I can say as I've gotten older I have become more accustomed to my obsessions and better at avoiding the depression they bring. For instance the old show Carrie Diaries on CW, I CANNOT watch it anymore because even just the first episode and I can feel the depression set in. I just force myself to make plan for a couple days or do something else whenever I feel the urge to watch it. After a whole it floats to the back of my mind and I am OK. However lately it's been Movies, and its sooo hard because I won't know it's going to make me obsessed until it's too late. I was off of work yesterday and I watched the same 2 movies twice in one day. It even effects my relationship a little, I didn't want my fiancee to watch with me because then it felt more like "mine" so I went to bed early to finish it alone. I then spend 2 hours researching the characters and it almost comes to the point of stalking them on Social Media, adding all of their accounts to my own etc. I've now gone 12 hours since I watched it and it's ALL that I can think about. I'm at work where my brain is supposed to be occupied with work stuff but it's literally in my head every second. I think for me its the fantasy of it, not necessarily me relating to the characters but instead wishing I could be a certain character so that I can be closer to my infatuation. It's usually boys that drag me in to be honest, and then I just want more and more so I seek out other things that they might be in. It's HORRIBLE and I do NOT know how to make it stop. :(

I am a teenager with little social life too, and although I don't have an illness and go to a public school, I can relate. The worst part is waiting for episodes because you've become so avcostomed to watching them one after another, and while i wait for episodes i gind new shows to watch. For me, I think TV is my escape from reality. My life is so boring I watch and become obsessed with TV shows. I think what your going through is normal, and if it's like what happened to me, it's an affect of a sucky social life. That's what my problem was.

I Still love to Watch tv online from http://www.watchlivechannels.com this is awesome to watch tv for a long time on this site.

I can identify with this. I was completely obsessed with Showtime's groundbreaking series Queer As Folk, and after the series went off the air after five years, I felt as if I had lost a dear friend (actually, several friends, as, like many fans, I felt the ensemble cast of characters were "friends" of mine). I recently re-watched all five seasons on DVD, and experienced the same sense of loss. In reading posts from other fans of the show (and like you, I gravitated to web sites to read everything I could about the show), I found that many other viewers felt the same. Side note: I, too, suffer from a chronic illness which forced me into early retirement, and I keenly miss the social interaction of the workplace.

I know this is a really old post (I see comments going back 13 years!) but man, I’m so glad I found it. I’ve been experiencing a resurgence of love for The Hunger Games over the last week or so. I read them when I was 16, fell in love with Peeta Mellark, saw the films, fell in love with him even more. Then I got over it and kinda just forgot about it. Then suddenly I had an urge to rewatch the films last week (I’m now 29, so a long time has passed), and I’m getting this same thing. It’s been stressing me out because I feel like I’m not normal, that there’s something mentally wrong with me, which makes my depression worse. I am already diagnosed with anxiety and depression anyway, just as an aside lol. Thank you to the OP for sharing and all of the other comments that have made me feel normal.

I thought I was the only one that did this. I too become insanely obsessed with things, mostly movies. Right now it’s Call Me By Your Name. I have only seen it all the way through once, but for over a month, I have watched it up until a certain point repeatedly, almost daily. Once I watch it up until that part, four times in one day. I have severe depression and this is my way of coping with it. I get like a high, a euphoria when I watch it, but later on, feel sick and ashamed of myself. I have tried doing other things to block it out of my mind but nothing works. I guess if I were not at home all the time with the DVD, streaming services, internet and mobile devices, I wouldn’t be able to watch it.

Just seeing things related to the movie, makes me sad, upset, mad and often anxious and nauseous. I even get some of the soundtrack stuck in my head and that makes me feel all those things too. It is constantly on my mind, nothing will make it go away. I just want Oliver and Elio to go away, but they won’t. I don’t want to watch other films, only this one. It’s driving me bonkers! Plus my obsession with Timothée Chalamet, doesn’t make it any better, because when you search him, what do you get? CMBYN! I search the internet all the time for Timothée. I want this to stop, but my lifestyle right now makes it worse. I have no job at the moment and can’t drive, so this makes me extremely manic. I don’t get much else done because of this problem. I want it to pass right now! But it won’t.

I'm so very relieved to see I'm not the only one who's experienced this. It's pretty much just exactly as you described it for me too. Sometimes it feels awful but all I can do is remind myself it will go away eventually, which it always does, until the next time of course... I still can't explain why it happens but I'm relieved to know I'm not the only one.

This is not normal I have the exact same issue and I've searched alot and I found out it is just like or it is actually CWS (celebrity worship syndrome) and it is found to be the most between teenagers . Sometimes I feel like I want to be one of the characters in the movie and I want to be a part of this world and I start to be like when I'm by my own I act as if I'm the character but I started to get rid of this by building mental strength I stopped watching the movie and stopped searching about it and its cast and it really really worked so if you have this problem just control it and stop feeding your obsession or it will get worse if you couldn't just try to search for how to build mental health or how to control your imagination or how to get over your obsession but if just didn't work and you stayed like this for a few months I recommend seeing a therapist

Omg I have the exact same thing, I keep becoming insanely obsessed with people and their programmes and when I've watched absolutely EVERYTHING of them I become so sad and have to watch things of theirs over and over again, then after maybe a few weeks/months I find something else and become completely obsessed over that too!!

I think it's normal because it happens to a lot of people. I am going through this right now and I feel sad when I look at fan art, read fanfics, or even just thinking about the shows I'm into. To be honest, I kind of hate it. I feel like I need to in the show and I relate yo the characters so much. Some would say to get in the habit of watching it less or watching something else, but you just want to watch it forever and ever and ever. I'm so into things that I have dreams about being in game or show. Yet, I still think it's normal because it's a natural thing that happens millions of people.

After reading several of the comments here, I've come to the conclusion that most of the commentors are teens. I am apx 40 years older than most of you. I googled "what personality trait in me causes me to obsess over certain TV series and movies-mostly with sequals and ended up at this website. I have never worried about my obsession with old movies, westerns, rom coms, murder mysteries, cop shows, Christmas movies, Hallmark series movies, Jane Austen movies and books. I like the way I feel watching a beloved series over and over. I've had a lot of years on most of you guys. I've raised 4 children, have 5 grandchildren with a great grand on the way. Needless to say-I've had a lot to keep me occupied over the years-it hasn't stopped me from loving that "little world in my head" as my husband calls it and that great feeling I get from watching or reading the things that I love over and over again.
I do understand watching all seasons to catch up on a show "I've just discovered". I just finished 7 seasons of The Middle to be ready for the new season next week. It took me almost 2 months to dvr them all and watch! Over the years, I have caughtup on many favorites-MASH, Grey's, Rawhide-yes, a1950s Clint Eastwood western., Blue Bloods! Big Bang... It's ok... As long as you include all the other fun things in life, family, pets, friends. It's your passion-for now. Don't forget to live your life...

No joke i can relate to this post so much, i'm currently 16 almost 17 and i have been obsessed with certain tv series and movies for years. I have re-watched them all so many times and i constantly think of them. I get depressed when i compare my life to the characters in the show. I get so obsessed I finish shows so quick. My friends all know about my obsession and find it weird. I get so sad when i finish them that i have to dive right into another show.

Btw a few examples of shows i get obsessed with are Vampire Diaries, One Tree hill, Gossip Girl, The mortal Instruments: books,movie and show. And these are just a couple!!!!!

hey, i know how you feel because i actually found this because i was serching up why i feel like this and i think it is normal because i recently started to watch a anime called sword art online and all of a sudden i could not stop thinking about i would not leave the house and i got really deppressed and i do get this when watching outher things but only sometimes and never as strong as this and when im not watching i dont know what to do with my life evry were and evrything i do ill be thinking about but i think it is because i feel so strong about its because im jealouse of it and i whant to bee in it and be the main charecter because i look up to it so much.

Omg this is so me right now, I have this obsession over True blood, I've watched 1 to 4th season in less than a week, I have the 5th season DVDs here and I really wanna watch it but I need to stop, it'll mess my sleeping pattern up, all day this week all I ever think about is it and it's so annoying, I have entered the depression stage.. Help... I dream about it, I think about it, I daydream about it, I'm going crazy here... When I think about it, I keep thinking that I wanna be a vampire or like Sookie, just a fraction of fairy and have Eric and Bill with me, I dream about talking to Eric, or acting out one of the scene with either Eric, Bill, or someone else.. I thought I was obsessed before when I read the books in 2011 and all I thought of was reading them again and again and how I wanted to watch the TV shows.. Did you know I watched one 10 hours season in a day, I was sat in my bed watching it all till 5 in the morning... Seriously messed up my sleeping pattern and I started cutting down when I got to season 3, forced my self to go to sleep at 10 pm cause I had school the next day..

I get the exact same way with a webcomic. I have stuffed animals from it, t-shirts that the characters wear, cosplay as them. Whenever I have nothing important to do (which, since it's summer right now, is pretty much every day), I scroll through tumblr Homestuck tags, write fanfiction, read fanfiction, make plot theories, rereda the damn thing, look at fanart, make fanart. I feel like it wouldn't be such an obsession if I had someone who was as into it as me. I could get out all my emotions about it (because it sure gives quite a lot) in one place, to one person, instead of spreading it out in various forms. The only bad thing that comes from it is my slight embarrassment at being so obsessed with something, and my mom gets annoyed whenever I gush to her about an update because I have no one else. I wouldn't say it's a bad obsession, and Homestuck gives me endless pleasure and imagination. Now if only I could find a Sburb beta my life would be complete...

I never had this obsession "issue" up until recently... I randomly came across bates motel on Netflix when I was on a long boring road trip and got HOOKED like crazy..... Now I wait for every Monday for the new episode and, just like someone mentioned previously, while waiting for the next episode, watched old seasons and episodes at least 2 times. When I don't watch the show, I keep thinking about it and then feel depressed, like something is missing. It's literally like a withdrawal. It's really weird to me ... When I watch the show I get completely lost in it, like I'm there, part of the show, living life with the characters ....it's a major distractor and I think it gives reward or positive reinforcement to the part of the brain that craves it.. But it's just so unnatural..... This era and generation is too media obsessed :((( sometimes I feel like I live in a fictional world...

I can totally relate and I thing that everybody is a little obsessed about certain things sometimes. But don't go overboard though because it's not healthy and you will look boring to other people.

For all of you who feel similar to the OP, I too have an obsession with a particular movie series, rather than a tv show. It's rather strange because it's currently only two movies, although at least another will be coming out.

Anyhow, The Amazing Spiderman movie series is my obsession. I've watched each of them at least 50 times and when I do other things ill even listen to the sound track to remind myself of the feelings I get from them.

As someone else said, I believe there's an emotional attachment to them, some sort of feeling(s) you get in real life that you used to have, wish you could have, or currently have that relate to something about your life.

SPOILER for the amazing spiderman 2 below....

Like in TASM2, Peter loves Gwen so much and wants to be with her...but knows she will die if he is, so he keepd a close eye on her. In the end, she does die because he decides he just wants to be with her.

That doesn't relate exactly to me but I've griwn attached to that relationship that they have and everything that goes along with it.

It helps to write down why you feel you're obsessed with something and start there. Hope I could help.

Actually its normal.... for me..., i also have the same problem i encountered and i think its normal ... being obsessed with something or someone is a good thing.. it reflects your personality your a kind of person that is very focused and vulnerable.actually its creepy huh watching the episodes many times(As if you already memorized the scrip heheh) is not normal but for us teenagers well its normal...were just focus doing one thing......

by the way im obsessed with HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 1 AND 2 as in i always watch it ... i watch it even though im sleepy and i use to watch it more than a dozen time im in loved with hiccup,astrid and toothless... im also obsesses with brian's jaques book the pearls of lutra...

one thing to help you is to have your pet or if you have your sibling play with them... they will help you just to vanish a little bit of obsession hahahahha...pet works for me.. i told my mom about this and she just say... "ohhh well you must study well and make this opportunity to be an inspiration to your study.."" but still even though i try it, i still think about the fact that i cant,,hahahha im just being distracted and its not good hahah its an animation with a dragon.. so creepy if i make it my insipartion,, for what? to make those things too... ohh well its not my hobby i just want to watch it many times .....

but still that movie or book i mean the authors/directors must be thankful to us without us they have no fans hahaha just saying.....

I feel exactly the same way. Ridiculously obsessed. I actually googled this to see if anyone else had the same issue. For me it's Sons of Anarchy right now. I've watched like 50 eps in the last week so far. Idk what I'm gonna do when I catch up and have to wait until september. Not sure if it's normal, but hey, you're not the only one!

I have the same problem, well not really, I have social life but I usually get depressed when I have to wait for the neXt ep. PRETTY LITTLE LIARS IS MY LIFE! I stalk the actors the whole day and I dream about going to the set. SOMEDAY I WILL! when I get a tweet answered I start screaming and shaking and my whole school books are covered with pictures from PLL. But I'm am no the only one! many teens suffer form the kind of addiction because we sometimes feel related with the show! I wish my life was like PLL I would even like to be tortured like the girls are! I SERIOUSLY WANT TO MARY KEEGAN (TOBY)

but don't worry IT IS ABSOLUTELY NORMAL

i feel the EXACT same way and i really cant cure it and i can relate to u although i go to public school and dont have any illnesses.i think my obsessions are really bad i mean the are dozens of things i have been obsessed with like glee, charmed ( i bought like the series cuz they dont show it anymore!) and even things like x-men (IKR)but now i am totally obsessed with The Hunger Games i mean i love it soo much. errrgh i am soo scared that it will mess up my my exam marks and all i mean i hav a MAJOR exam soon and rite now i am obsessed with hunger games ! i really hope it goes away !!

srry for my bad english