Top 20 TV shows for helping to reduce stress

Friends, The Simpsons and Suits have all been named in the top 20 TV shows for helping you de-stress. 

• Over half of us turn to comforting TV shows to help us calm down during times of stress. 
• Friends, The Great British Bake Off and Married at First Sight are some of the most popular choices for de-stressing.
• This comes after Chandler Bing was nominated the most popular Friends character from the show.

After all the stress of Christmas, it’s time to relax and enjoy some down time before the New Year.

And one way which we all love to relax is sitting in front of the TV to watch some of our favorite shows. 

Well, now research by Roku has revealed which programmes are the best to help us calm down during stressful times.

According to the study of 2,000 adults, 42% of people agreed comedy is the best genre to help them relax - with Friends, The Great British Bake Off, and The Simpsons topping the list. 

Almost half (48%) also say they instantly feel better when their favorite show is on, with those taking part saying they needed an average of just 18 minutes to feel more calm and composed.

Other highly-ranked comfort shows include Strictly Come Dancing, Sex And The City, as well as both versions of The Office – UK and US.

Aside from comedy, a quarter (24%) of the study group would opt for a drama, such as Killing Eve or Breaking Bad.

Slightly less people (23%) would turn to documentaries like Netflix’s Jeffrey Dahmer Story.

With money and work stresses, the research also found that as many as 71% think TV shows provide a sense of escapism, and half (49%) said they allow them to forget about the outside world.

The research also looked into where we like to watch TV, with 65% prefering to chill on their sofa, and 31% preferring to watch a series from their bed.

And it seems most of us like to watch shows between 8pm and 9pm (13%) – with the added comfort of a blanket (37%) and snacks (25%) to really settle in.

To 20 shows to help us de-stress

• Friends
• The Great British Bake Off
• The Simpsons
• Strictly Come Dancing
• Sex And The City
• Frasier
• Killing Eve
• Breaking Bad
• Married At First Sight
• Love Island
• The Office (UK)
• Better Call Saul
• Will and Grace
• Homeland
• Everybody Loves Raymond
• Motherland
• The Office (US)
• The Sopranos
• The Jeffrey Dahmer Story
• Suits