Horror entertainment can trigger the fight-or-flight response, which comes with a boost in adrenaline, endorphins, and dopamine. The brain can then process surroundings and conclude that the experience is not a genuine threat.
Watching horrific images can trigger unwanted thoughts and feelings and increased levels of anxiety or panic, and even increase our sensitivity to startle-eliciting stimuli, making those of us who are anxious more likely to respond negatively and misinterpret the sensations as real threats.
Horror monsters come in various forms but common to them is the fact that they're all created to evoke negative emotions, such as fear, disgust, and anxiety. A tour through the history of horrifying baddies reveals how they reflect society's fears, from the threat of communism and consumerism to sexual promiscuity.
Watching horror movies excessively may desensitize individuals to violence and frightening imagery, which could influence their perception of risk and danger. This desensitization might lead some individuals to seek out increasingly extreme or risky experiences, including substance use.
Scary movies, books and podcasts can help people think through how they would respond to threats and prepare them for worst-case scenarios, say experts who study the psychology of fear.
How can horror movies help overcome real world trauma?
Zlatin Ivanov, a double-board certified psychiatrist, agrees. After watching a scary movie, the brain's ability to calm itself down can be pleasurable neuro-chemically speaking, Ivanov says, “because the dopamine release related to the 'rest and digest' brain response causes an increased sense of well-being.”
Watching scary movies can affect young children in many ways. According to a joint study funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, children who viewed violent content were more likely to develop sleep problems, anxiety, and risky and aggressive behaviors. That's a lot of reasons to avoid scary movies.
Research suggests that those who enjoy horror have a psychological “protective frame” that falls into three categories. First is a safety frame. Watching a horror film or show means we have to know for sure that we are safe, and that the evil entity is distant and cannot hurt us.
The biochemical inside our bodies also changes when we consume horror. Fright can trigger the release of adrenaline, resulting in heightened sensations and surging energy.
According to science findings, people may seek out horror movies for all sorts of reasons, such as triggering chemicals in their brains, to help them plan for worst case scenarios, or to practice coping strategies and control.
What are the positive psychological effects of horror movies?
Some psychologists suggest that watching scary movies can be good for your well-being because they can help you feel better by releasing natural feel-good chemicals in your brain, like endorphins and dopamine. These chemicals can help reduce stress and relieve pain.
Engaging with fear in a safe and controlled environment, such as when watching a film, can induce feelings of thrill and euphoria. This is comparable to engaging in extreme sports like skydiving, where the element of fear is palpable, yet the activity is pursued for the exhilaration it provides.
Horror movies do not make people aggressive. This is mainly because aggression is caused in many ways namely intrinsic and or extrinsic factors. For instance, aggression can be caused by fatigue, anger, attitude and environmental factors like frequent experience of violence at home or in the neighborhood.
Horror movies can cause a wide variety of side-effects, depending on the individual. One of the most noticeable side-effects is sleeplessness. People may have trouble sleeping or toss fitfully all night due to the residual fear and anxiety from watching a scary movie.
When you are watching a scary movie, you are constantly on edge. The high suspense can cause an increase in stress and anxiety, which can lead to an increased heart rate. The change is not very noticeable of threatening, but it is definitely something to keep in mind.
Horror fans can be classified along three dimensions: Adrenaline Junkies, White Knucklers, and Dark Copers. Dark copers are a newly-identified type of horror fans, who use horror to cope with problems like feelings of anxiety. Adrenaline junkies get a mood boost from the intense experiences of horror.
When we watch a horror movie, it stimulates the brain and it responds with the physical and emotional sensations we call fear. And believe it or not, for some people, this is a lot of fun. After the initial shock of the scare has sunk into our brains, our higher thinking processes then kick in.
“It's normal for children to want to explore the boundaries of their own fears and what society deems as acceptable,” said Scrivner, who studies horror media and fear, among other “scary” subjects. “This is one way for them to learn about those boundaries.”
Some are movies are just spooky. Gentle thrills can let kids explore fears in a safe environment. Others movies can be very scary and even violent. Scary movies that contain violence or adult content can have harmful effects on young viewers' behavior and mental health.
Together, auditory and visual stimuli can tap into our innate instinct to survive, alerting our brain that we're in imminent danger. It is no coincidence that we can feel both excited and scared when watching horror movies.
People with anxiety are more likely to be negatively affected by horror movies. Chronic anxiety increases sensitivity to startle stimuli, the researchers explain. As a result, it makes people who are already stressed and anxious more likely to react negatively.
Watching a horror movie that you can turn on and off at will re-establishes the feeling of control that is lost in the experience of trauma and which many trauma survivors find missing in their everyday lives.
While this might not feel like fun at the time, watching the scary movie is making you mentally stronger, scene by scene. Just like exercising your muscles in the gym makes you physically stronger, exercising your ability to cope with feelings of fear and panic improves your ability to handle scary situations.
Dr. Scanlon elaborated, saying early exposure to graphic and gory content could be “potentially traumatic.” “When kids are exposed to excessively scary movies, images, or even haunted houses, they tend to have some of the symptoms of Acute Stress Disorder or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder,” Dr. Scanlon explained.
“When children – and adults for that matter – see something that evokes an emotional response, such as fear, horror or shock, it can repeatedly play back in their head, where they can recall and visualise the images and/or sounds that have traumatised them,” says Dr Lesley-Anne Ey, a senior lecturer in Education ...
