I love, love, love watching tv shows! Within a week, I watch several shows at once. Watching shows is not only enjoyable, but it allows me to reach deep relaxation.

It also positively contributes to my mental well-being. I am not just saying that as an excuse for watching shows, but when watching TV (AKA Hulu), I feel very relaxed and get relief from any mental health symptoms that I am experiencing.

If I had a stressful day or intense anxiety, I turn to TV shows to de-stress. It works!

I like the simplicity of watching TV. All I have to do is lie down or sit down and then focus my eyes on the screen. Of course my brain is still working and processing the plot etc, but it doesn’t consume much energy out of me to drain me.

The Reason I Only Watch Certain Shows

Here’s the catch though, I am picky about what type of content I consume. Before, I used to watch all types of shows! I would watch every crime and suspenseful show under the sun. (Law & Order SVU, Criminal Minds, HTGAWM, etc.) The more suspense, the more I was hooked.

Now, I stay away from those shows. I refrain from crime shows, negative shows, and violent shows. Now I watch genres such as comedies, dramedies, and drama (but not too much drama).

My Mental Breakdown Changed Everything

I stopped watching crime shows and “intense” shows because of my first mental breakdown. During my first breakdown, I experienced symptoms that I have never experienced before. I had delusions, paranoia, visual hallucinations, and auditory hallucinations.

I can now relate to some of those characters on all those shows I used to watch.

The irony. 

For example, I now know what it feels like to have paranoid and delusional thoughts of the CIA being after you or being extremely afraid that the SWAT team is out front waiting for you to come out of the house.

That is just one of many thoughts that I experienced during my mental breakdown. And on top of that, I would also have visual and auditory hallucinations. Altogether, all of those symptoms felt very real. It felt like part of my reality and all aspects of my symptoms were rooted in negativity.

All my hallucinations were negative, violent, or intense. And some of it resembled some of the shows I used to watch. That’s when I decided that I needed to limit watching certain shows.

I’m not saying the shows caused my symptoms, but my intuition told me that I had to limit such shows, especially to help me recover and heal.

Finding New Type Of Genres

Since my first breakdown in 2011, I’ve been on a new journey of finding new shows to watch, especially ones in genres that I didn’t usually watch as often. First, I started watching a lot of comedies. It felt really good, but something was missing. Over the years, I continue to watch comedies along with dramedies, sitcoms, and dramas. I realize that I still crave a little bit of drama, so I have found some dramas that can still be captivating without it being too overwhelming or toxic.

Of course, what I consider overwhelming may or may not be overwhelming for others (and vice versa). At the end of the day, I focus on how the show makes me feel. If I’ve been watching a show that I realized isn’t as good for my mental well-being, I stop watching it.

At times it can be challenging to stop watching certain shows because I get hooked, but then I remind myself what’s at stake.

Overall, I think everyone should be careful with what type of shows they are immersing themselves in. I really feel lighter with the type of shows that I watch. I feel good after watching my shows. Of course, there are a few shows that are a little more intense than the others because I am not able to fully detach myself from a taste of suspense. At the same time, I carefully choose those shows.

I want to share with you what shows I’ve been watching on Hulu. Some of these shows are available on TV as well but don’t ask me about those details because I don’t watch actual TV haha.

Why Hulu?

There was a period of time that I had both Netflix and Hulu! It was exhilarating!

I wanted to save some money, so I had to make the very difficult decision to cancel my membership with one of the platforms. I honestly love both Netflix and Hulu. At some point, I do want to get a Netflix subscription again.

I chose Hulu because I like how Hulu has some shows that are currently on TV. It gives me the feeling of watching live TV.

Since I’ve been mostly watching shows on Hulu, I will mostly share shows from there. Until I’m on Netflix again, enjoy the future posts that I write on shows airing on Hulu.

Don’t have Hulu?

If you don’t have Hulu, you can sign up for their free trial. It is one WHOLE month long! You can watch sooo many shows in that month and can even binge on some shows.

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