"We feel fear during the movie, and most people also feel some heightened vigilance in the hours or, in some cases, days after the movie It's a price most people are willing to pay." "The fear is transient for most people," Clasen said. Interestingly, the researchers found that there were patterns in brain activity that suggested the participants enjoyed the scary situations to which they were exposed to, too. They found that the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain that's associated with various anxiety disorders, was the only area that experienced hyperactivity for all participants while watching the scary scenes. They scanned participants' brains using functional magnetic resonance imaging, as they showed them threatening clips from scary movies (like "The Shining" and "The Silence of the Lambs") and less scary scenes they also asked participants if they liked to seek out scary scenarios or not. In 2009, researchers at the Institute of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology at the Friedrich Schiller University of Jena, Germany, were curious how this kind of "movie-induced" anxiety affects the brain. (That makes sense economically - why would they be so popular otherwise?)
Indeed, while scary movies can totally frighten people, there's research to suggest that people simultaneously enjoy them-whether they're aware of that joy in the moment or not. "Most people seem to seek out horror as a social activity, and there is at least anecdotal evidence that many people experience strengthened bonds to their co-viewers after watching a scary movie together." "There's reason to believe that horror films may have a bonding effect," Clasen added.
HORROR MOVIE EFFECTS ON BRAIN PROFESSIONAL
In exposure therapy, a professional therapist might expose a patient to the context of the threat without any real danger to help them overcome their anxiety and distress.Ĭlasen says while there isn't a lot of research on the positive effects of watching horror movies, the research available shows how watching horror movies can help us "tackle fear and develop resilience." Clasen added that scary movies also bring people together. This is similar to the idea of exposure therapy, which is a technique used to treat anxiety disorders.
"My answer would be that some people, at least, seem to use horror to manage their fear and anxiety they expose themselves to limited and controllable doses, and they may even get to practice coping strategies and push their own limits for how much fear and anxiety they can tolerate." "It does feel counterintuitive there's plenty of fear and anxiety in the world, right?" Mathias Clasen, a scholar of horror fiction at Aarhus University, told Salon via email. Does it not seem counterintuitive, amid all this misery, to watch something anxiety-inducing?Īs it turns out, the opposite may be true: Watching horror movies can be a boon to one's mental health. Researchers say there are some eerie reasons that's the case. Yet given that this year's Halloween season is complicated by the real-life horror of a fractious election and a deadly pandemic, those of us who find horror movies stressful might wonder whether it's really a sane idea to watch a scary movie. October is "spooky season" - the time of the year when fake blood, giant Home Depot skeletons, ghost-shaped chocolates and horror movies suddenly become ubiquitous.
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