HEALTH SCARE OF THE WEEK

Researchers at Montreal’s McGill University have shown how viewing television shows in which the Cmmdr appears can lead to depression and even dissassociative states. Subjects were divided into two groups: one group could watch whatever it chose and the other group had to include in at least %50 of their viewing first-run or reruns of shows the Cmmdr had a part in. This second group suffered almost immediately from intense despair, hopelessness, and even nausea. After one viewing of a Father Dowling’s Mystery episode that the Cmmdr had a small role in, a young woman killed herself by jumping on to the freeway and being run over by a mac truck. After watching Bloodhounds of Broadway, a 40 year old man took hostages in a convenience mart, three of whom he murdered after shooting himself. All experienced a profound sense of meaninglessness. After one month of watching Benson reruns, more than half the group had lost their jobs and become alcoholic. The group watching non-Cmmdr shows showed no ill effects. The study was conducted over a period of five years and the results appear in next month’s issue of Science.