If television were a chemical, it probably would be America's favorite drug.
According to some experts, Americans glued to the television face a greater risk of experiencing stress in their family relationships as well as psychological discomfort.
Health experts carefully avoid using the word "addiction" to describe long hours in front of the tube.
"Drug addicts might readily steal or commit crimes to get money to buy drugs whereas people might not rob a convenience store to watch television," said Gary Miller, a pharmacology and toxicology professor at the University of Texas-Austin.
TV-Free America conducted a survey in 1999 revealing the average American spends the equivalent of 11 years in front of a television set over an average lifespan of 72 years.
According to the group's survey, the average American watches 3.7 hours of television a day, which amounts to an astonishing figure of 56 days a year.
The average American household owns 2.5 televisions, collectively switched on for six hours and 47 minutes every day. Sixty-six percent of Americans view the tube while having dinner.
"Excessive viewing is a symptom of other problems rather than illness," Psychology Prof. Denise Newman said. "People who are depressed, isolated, don't know what else to do, don't have any friends, not motivated to do other things may over-view," Newman added.
Bad television habits can start at any stage in life, according to Shyam Sundar, director of the media effects research laboratory at Pennsylvania State University.
Cheryl Pawlowski, New York University media ecology professor, says children often cling to television for comfort.
Pawlowski claims in her recent book,"Glued to the Tube: The Threat of Television Addiction to Today's Family," that "from a child's perspective, an empty house can be a very lonely and threatening place. Television provides noise and companionship, and gives the illusion that they are not alone."
Some students would agree that quality time with the tube often helps to alleviate stress accumulated from the rigors of college life.
"Watching television makes me take my mind off all the stuff I have to do," second-year College student Ronaldo Sanchez said.
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, director of the quality of life research center at the Claremont Graduate University in California, found that watching television induces feelings of relaxation, passiveness and impaired alertness.
According to Csikszentmihalyi, the mesmerizing effect of television could have a greater impact on heavy viewers, who may continue to watch television fearing symptoms such as restlessness and agitation.
Health experts commonly define heavy viewers as those who watch more than four hours of television daily, while watching fewer than two hours a day qualifies as light viewing.
Heavy viewers reported lower levels of enjoyment from watching television than light viewers.
Csikszentmihalyi also has shown that mental stimulation, measured by alpha brain-wave production, is lower while watching television than while reading a book. He also reported that watching television made mental concentration more difficult for the subjects in his study.
T.V. programs also might affect the moods of their viewers, according to University of Massachusetts Psychology Prof. Daniel Anderson.
Anderson's study showed that individuals who watched more comedy and less news often experienced more stress than their more balanced counterparts.
Additionally, Anderson found that women experiencing high amounts of stress tended to watch more game shows, while stressed men would watch more action-oriented programs.
Both men and women tended to watch more television while under high stress.
Many experts also have suggested that watching too much television negatively impacts interactions between family members. Interaction often dwindles down to wordlessly watching television, and this often is mistaken for quality time together.
Sundar believes television programs tend to cultivate false beliefs and perceptions of the world around us.
But if sitting in front of the tube can have such damaging effects, what is considered a "healthy" weekly dose of television?
Sundar says it varies, depending on content of the programs.
"Someone spending 14 hours per week watching news shows may be the same as someone spending 30 hours per week watching CNBC or someone spending five hours per week watching soap operas," Sundar said.
The emergence of WebTV might engage couch potatoes more actively than the conventional tube. It could make television more interactive, which means audiences might be forced to become active, rather than passive viewers.
But overcoming denial is the first step, Newman said.
"They need to develop some more creative hobbies, such as reading books or walking. They don't need medical help. They need a kick in the pants," Miller said.
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