Why I Watch Horror Movies to Relieve My Anxiety
You can feel your chest tighten, your breathing becomes choppy, and your hands start to sweat. For most people, this could describe the physical experience of watching a blood-curdling horror movie. However, for some anxiety sufferers, these symptoms just need a good jump scare away, which I only realized after self-medicating with horror films for years.
(Of course, as with any type of self-medication, it is worth noting that these coping mechanisms should only be used in conjunction with proper medical care. If you are dealing with anxiety, the first step is to find a good therapist to help you cope.)
I’ve always been a restless child. Looking back, it seems ridiculous that I was not diagnosed until I was 25 – I was afraid of water, dogs, carnival rides, fires and many other things, including, yes, horror films. But as much as I was afraid to even watch the trailer for films of my childhood years, such as “The Scream” and “The Ring” , they also intrigued me strangely.
I found methods of interacting with these daunting concepts in ways that were exciting enough but not overly daunting. I secretly skimmed VHS covers when we went to the local blockbuster, for example, or stayed awake at night listening to the eerie sounds of the “Twilight Zone” from my safe bedroom.
As I got older and surfed the Internet more often, I read synopsis of scary things on Wikipedia, experiencing them, but not actually experiencing them. I know more about the Silent Hill series than anyone who has never played any of the Silent Hill games should know. I was obsessed with The Grudge, so scared of the short trailer that I could think about it for years.
It wasn’t until I became an adult that I finally started watching movies and playing the scary games that had fascinated me for years. When I first dived into this puddle of fear, there was a strange sense of calm and relief behind the initial burst of horror as I got to the other side. Catharsis.
Horror movies can teach you that fear isn’t always scary.
Catharsis may be the best description of the mysterious idea of watching horror movies out of anxiety. The Greek root of this word means “cleansing” or “cleansing,” a fitting description of how I feel when I watch a horror movie to get rid of all this excruciating horror. The concept of catharsis was first defined by Aristotle in relation to ancient Greek theater, when he called it “cleansing the spirit of painful and base ideas or emotions by observing the play of such emotions or ideas on stage.” So, as it turned out, I can join the centuries-old tradition.
However, the theory of catharsis, put forward by Aristotle and then by Freud, is currently being questioned. As Mark Wilson, professor of psychology at Victoria University in Wellington, notes: “Freud had a ‘catharsis’ theory that we can relieve psychological pressure by doing different things. People took this idea and suggested, for example, that violent sports allow people to indirectly express their aggression or anger. Unfortunately it doesn’t work. “
So, if this is not a Freudian catharsis, then why does horror movies work wonders for my anxiety? This could be one of many reasons, and Professor Wilson cites several of them.
“First, distraction is an effective way to deal with negative emotions (including anxiety), and movies can do that if you immerse yourself in them,” he suggests. “Another benefit that comes from horror movies is that people usually feel better afterward due to the contrast – they can leave the theater without being eaten by zombies.”
Dr. Dougal Sutherland, a clinical psychologist at the University of Victoria at Wellington, compares the idea of self-medication to horror movies to elements of cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT, a common clinical treatment for anxiety.
“The basic idea is that people deliberately get into situations where they feel anxiety and then learn that they can deal with that feeling and that their worst fears are not materialized,” explains Dr. Sutherland. “CBT helps anxious people know that they are worrying too much about something that is unlikely to happen, and a major part of CBT for treating anxiety is doing ‘behavioral experiments’. In these experiments, people identify situations that cause them anxiety, and then gradually and carefully get into those situations. As a result, people learn that their anxiety can be dealt with and that it diminishes over time. ”
It sounds terribly similar to what I experienced in horror, and how I gradually exposed myself to the concepts and ideas that horrified me, even if it happened without any proper medical supervision. But this puzzle is still missing one element: the physical element.
Horror movies provide adrenaline rush and relief
My concern was first diagnosed by its physical symptoms, long after I learned to stop being afraid of water, dogs, fire, and carnival rides. Much of my anxiety these days consists of physical symptoms with only a vague sense of emotional wrongness, chief among which is chest tightness or pain. This and other symptoms are often relieved or at least more comfortable with a good horror movie, and the cause may be physiological.
“There is little research into why people are attracted to horror movies (and some are not), and it shows that people who are horrified often love adrenaline, they get out of them, and then they are relieved when it goes away,” the doctor explained. Sutherland. Professor Wilson also mentioned that “the physiological arousal caused by anticipation persists over time, and as a result, positive experiences are enhanced.”
While adrenaline is usually a factor in the physiology of anxiety and its symptoms, it may be the relief after the film’s resolution that sets it apart.
How to know if horror movies can help you
If you are starting to think about using horror movies as a self-medication, there are several important points to keep in mind. For example, if you have certain phobias, you probably shouldn’t turn to horror movies unless you’ve discussed it with your therapist.
“For example, if you are worried about spiders, visiting the Eight Legged Freaks may not help,” explains Professor Wilson. “Unless it’s part of the therapeutic use of systematic desensitization, which involves gradually exposing people to what they fear, say, to learn they won’t die watching a toy spider, and gradually moving on to watching Eight-Legged Freaks.”
For some people with anxiety, watching horror movies can be the complete opposite of rewarding. “There is a danger of using horror movies with someone who is not passionate about them or does not know what is going on, as watching such films can be very disturbing and even traumatic for some,” explained Dr. Sutherland, noting that he himself falls into this category. category too. “When I was a teenager / young adult, I suffered from anxiety and freaked out several times while watching scary movies. Sometimes after watching, I could not sleep well and the next day I still felt agitated. I have largely overcome my own anxieties, but now I try not to watch horror films because of the feeling they give me. “
Watching horror movies is much more rewarding for the anxiety disorder person who is already into the horror genre from the start. “If a person is already attracted to these films and watches them regularly, it can be a useful self-help tool,” said Dr. Sutherland.
So, chances are, if horror movies are a good coping mechanism for you, you are probably already doing it. Of course, if you experience intense anxiety on a regular basis, even the best new slasher is nothing compared to proper therapy. Like all coping mechanisms, anxiety horror films are best filmed with ongoing therapy sessions and counseling.