Soap Opera Syndrome 

The tendency to see one's life as being in a continual state of crisis, caused by watching half-hour daytime TV shows that are not morality tales as in Aesop's Fables, but rather a never-ending series of unresolved crises.

"Alice's Soap Opera Syndrome caused her to have a tendency to seek conflict rather than resolution to her interpersonal problems."

Soap Opera Syndrome by Mark_Trail December 28, 2016

Soap Opera Syndrome 

The tendency to be mesmerized by television. Trance like state brought on by televised commercial advertisements interspersed with fragments of dramatic teleplays. Also, as a component of post-industrial consciousness. e.g. "Television rules the nation."

The term references the advent of drama created to sell soap, soap operas. Broadcast on radio with soap manufacturers such as Procter & Gamble, Colgate-Palmolive, and Lever Brothers as sponsors and producers.

Alice: Everyone says I probably have Attention Deficit Disorder. It's possible considering I am easily distracted. Theres got to be some excuse. What do you think? Bob?

Bob: Huh? Sorry Alice I was zoned on this laundry detergent advert. Tide really does get my whites whiter and only 'mildly' pollutes our drinking water.

Alice: I'm thirsty.

Alien: Soap Opera Syndrome

Advertisements take airtime away from programs. In the 1960s a typical hour-long American show would run for 51 minutes excluding advertisements. Today, a similar program would only be 42 minutes long; a typical 30-minute block of time now includes 22 minutes of programming with 6 minutes of national advertising and 2 minutes of local.

Soap Opera Syndrome by Oracle Arion October 2, 2009