To not understand why some people have the TV on all day long

[Autumnsunshinebaby]

This is certainly not a dig, I am genuinely interested in why people do it. Perhaps I just have the attention span of a knat or rubbish channels, but I can never find anything to watch. Help me understand!

Please do expand on that Blanche

Me and my parents would fall in to an upper class category but I've got friends on lower incomes that do it too so I am confused as to how it's a class thing

I have it on less now because I have replaced it with BBC radio Iplayer!
If I have TV on I sit I find, radio I will move around

I work with the elderly. Many live alone, have no family or none that bother to visit, some are housebound, most are very lonely, some have poor eyesight so cannot read papers or books and virtually all of them will have the tv on all day - for company, because they are sad being alone all the time, because they can make out images on the tv even though their eyesight is not good enough to read, because you get the radio on tv nowadays. Some have big 40 or 50 inch screen so they can make out the pictures. Many flats where they live do not allow any pets so they cannot even have a cat for company. Your op sounds snooty and judgey to me. You could probably have worked out why at least some people have the tv on all the time.

Wow Blanche, what exactly does that mean? What class am I then?

""I just wondered why people can't cope with silence.""

Because as well as social reasons, it's to do with how our brains work (to put it simply.

Some children (and Adults) concentrate and retain information better with background noise and it takes away any anxiety etc. Others do better in silence.

It's the same as putting people in isolation, how we manage is a lot to do with physiological reasons.

Some people live crowds, others have a stress response to be in crowded places.

It can be just a habit as well.

My Mum and my Nan both put their TV on, for company, which was odd in my Mums case, because she didn't like people. My Nan switched hers off for visitors.

My eldest DD puts hers on, to get rid of anxiety, otherwise she's listening for noises, that could mean a break in etc.

So, you have the radio on, but can't understand why people have the television on?

YANBU. Had our tv disconnected 8 years ago, best thing we ever did.

""Just because""

There's no need for the nastiness towards the OP.

Most mammals behaviour, especially the more intelligent ones, are 'just because'.

It either falls under biology, or sociology.

I have it in as background noise. I get anxiety from EVERYTHING so it helps me focus when I'm getting into an attack.

Each to their own though it doesn't impact anyone's life so I don't see why it makes a difference

Yes Blanche why is it a class thing?

If I'm in the house on my own I put it on, if you want to really know why, it's because even at my age I don't like being in an empty house especially on a night time! If DD is in its usually always on, and DP can't sleep without the tv on which I don't like.

I have bad tinnitus, silence to me is deafening.

If I am home alone the first thing I do is put the radio or TV on for background noise, it distracts me from the constant noise inside my head which is far more more obvious when there is no external noise.

Birds, 'just because' is a reason. Along the same lines of 'because they want to'.

I'm not being nasty, come on now.

I never understood it until being on maternity leave and now it's about not feeling isolated. I would use the radio but we don't actually own one. I always turn off when guests come though. Once I return to work it won't happen anymore.

OH has sky sports news on constantly. Does my head in

Sky sports is senses overload! I cannot stand it!

Different reasons I think. My Gran always has the radio on in the kitchen and tv on in the lounge since my grandad died (several years ago). She can't stand the silence

Similarly when i lived alone I would always have the tv on, even when falling asleep. Would help to stop me dwelling on things (was feeling down following a bad break up).

I like the tv or radio on all the time. It makes the house feel lived in somehow. I like to use spotify mood playlists depending on what i'm doing. A rainy afternoon with a book and some acoustic is perfect.

I don't switch it off for visitors and anyone I visit doesn't do this either. Again it just creates a warmer atmosphere i think. It's a bit like being the only couple in a silent restaurant as opposed to a bit of music and chatter from other couples. Just makes it a bit less oppressive, and gives something to comment on in case the conversation is a bit unforthcoming.

I have it on for background noise, I am often reading a book or playing with dc2 but my anxiety takes over if I am in silence (mind takes me to disaster scenarios) I also fall asleep watching Netflix on my phone with headphones in. Silence really is deadly for me!

Oh, I do turn it of if I have visitors.

Just habit I think for me, tv was always on in my house growing up and I have done it since living alone. Pretty much only time it is off is during the night, when we have visitors, or if I am playing a game with the kids or doing something that requires attention from them.

Me and my parents would fall in to an upper class category but I've got friends on lower incomes that do it too so I am confused as to how it's a class thing

A comfort blanket.

I have a friend who keeps either TV or music on all the time because it helps them keep plodding on with jobs in the house. Silence gets them thinking and whittling too much.

An elderly relative keeps it on 'for company', but gets annoyed when actual company makes her miss her programmes

We don't have the tv on but we have an old, loud ticking and chiming clock and if that stops I feel out of sorts with no noise in the house at all so I imagine I use the clock as background noise.