Can horror movies relieve anxiety?

© Universal Pictures/YouTube

Leviathan Press:

Moderate anxiety is inevitable in the evolutionary path, otherwise our race would have perished long ago. However, in contemporary society, too many people tend to fall into deep anxiety, and watching horror movies can sometimes be an effective "remedy" to divert real-life pressure and anxiety. Although it is still a strong stimulus, it is in a fictional context - that is, the so-called "moderate fear."

However, the experience evoked by horror movies that win over audiences with music and startling editing is different from that evoked by horror movies without violence or blood, which can create overall suspense with the plot alone. The former is closer to scares and is more instantaneous, while I personally think the latter is the real fear...

2020 has been a bad year for everything—except horror movies. Over the past year, horror movies have been extremely popular on streaming platforms, reaping the best box office in modern history. In a year plagued by real-life horrors, why did many people choose to escape into a world full of fictional horrors? One reason is that people have become more anxious over the past year.

It sounds strange, but it's true, and studying the typical traits of horror movie fans may give us some clues to understand this strange phenomenon.

For example, horror movie fans often talk about their anxiety and how they relieve it through horror movies. This is not because they are brave, but rather they may be more prone to anxiety. In a recent study published on PsyArXiv, researchers analyzed plot keywords from more than 800 horror movies and compared them with nearly 1 million likes on Facebook. The results showed that people who love horror movies are more likely to be neurotic (a personality trait characterized by high anxiety). Among all the movies in the database, movies with keywords such as "mental illness", "ghosts", "serial killers" and "mental disorder" are most likely to trigger neurosis in movie fans. Similarly, if the plot of the movie is tense and exciting and can arouse people's fear of death, movie fans will also become highly neurotic.

Plus, there's some empirical evidence to back up a long-standing belief in horror movie circles: anxious people sometimes enjoy watching anxiety-inducing movies. But why would an anxious person want to watch a movie that's meant only to be scary?

Do horror movies relax you?: In The Invisible Man, the highest-grossing horror film of 2020 (5th highest-grossing film worldwide), Elizabeth Moss plays a woman who is hunted and terrorized by her ex-boyfriend, an optical engineer who designs a special suit to hide his presence. ©Universal Pictures / YouTube

Horror movies are usually centered around some kind of ghost, and it is the fear that the ghost brings that inspires fear and anxiety in the audience. This is the purpose of horror movies. The plot is full of these terrifying images, so the audience will be drawn into the plot by fear. In general, humans have a tendency to pay attention to threats, and this tendency appears at a very young age. Threats not only appeal to our vision, but also affect other cognitive areas, including memory, learning, and the social transfer of information. There is a very good reason why this tendency exists - it kept our ancestors alive.

One of the functions of a large nervous system is to stay alert to threats in the environment and determine the best response. This greatly improves the survival rate of animals, and the same is true for us humans. Because of this nervous system, people's attention is first attracted to threats, and threats are the core of horror movies, so horror movies are particularly able to attract audiences' attention.

People who are prone to anxiety are more likely to fall into fear. This is one of the reasons why horror movies attract them. Anxious people are more likely to be involved. They will stare at the screen intently, alert to what terrible things will appear in the next second. This increased alertness due to the suspense of the movie may in turn further enhance their immersion in the movie.

One of the most disturbing aspects of anxiety is the feeling of having no control over reality, whether it’s the source of your anxiety or your response to it. There’s ample evidence that lack of control over your stressors can have negative consequences. Multiple studies have shown that the more control you have (whether it’s real or fake), the less likely it is to trigger a fear response in your brain, and the more anxiety you experience.

Essentially, horror films provide a socially acceptable way to vent your anxiety.

Fear provides this sense of control by shifting the source of your anxiety. Once you focus on the fear of the virtual world and become fully engaged in the plot, the source of your anxiety changes. You forget about the bad social interaction, the overwhelming deadline, or other things that make you anxious in the real world. Instead, your anxiety comes entirely from the ghost on the screen. The important thing is that when watching a horror movie, you actively choose to be anxious, rather than anxiety becoming something you cannot control.

While your anxiety doesn't go away when you watch a horror movie, there are some differences that give you more control. No matter how compelling the plot is, the audience can still distinguish between reality and fiction. So even if you are really nervous about the plot in the moment, you can feel that this feeling is different from being nervous about real things, which can have greater consequences. What's more, you can control how scared you are. Covering your eyes, watching with the lights on, or watching with a friend can reduce the fear (of course, people who really want to experience fear will do the opposite).

Some forms of cognitive behavioral therapy can help control anxiety, but simple methods like covering your eyes and turning on the lights can only control anxiety in a fictional world, not in real life. This ability to control your feelings is part of the appeal of watching horror movies.

There is good evidence that people do regulate their fear to maximize pleasure. For example, recently some colleagues and I published a study of the physiology, behavior, and attitudes of ghost town adventurers. Using heart rate monitors, facial expressions, and questionnaires, we found that there is a “sweet spot” between fear and anxiety and the corresponding reactions, where people’s pleasure peaks. This is consistent with earlier research showing that haunted house explorers use a range of cognitive and emotional strategies to regulate their fear. I think many of these findings fit broadly with what’s known as the “fear-excitement experience.” By transferring anxiety to a screen, you can better control how it affects you.

Once you are fully engaged in the plot and feel in control of the moment, horror movies become a great source of anxiety. In the real world, expressing your high anxiety is a shameful thing. Therefore, you may not be able to deal with your anxiety properly, such as closing your emotions, which will only make your anxiety worse. However, in the virtual horror world, expressing your emotions is normal, and no one will find it strange even if you scream. When watching horror movies, you can imagine endlessly and imagine what terrible things will happen to the characters on the screen.

In his monograph on the horror genre, Danse Macabre, Stephen King, the master of horror fiction, wrote that when a horror fiction writer can write what he calls "the terror", he is successful. "The terror" is different from being startled or feeling uncomfortable after seeing a ghost. It is the fear that runs through the entire movie, and it is also the uneasiness and suspense that the director or screenwriter hopes to create. It keeps you on edge and on tenterhooks because your imagination is fully open and you can imagine what will happen next before the next climax comes.

© UNILAD

For people who live with anxiety, this kind of thinking comes naturally, and makes the movie even more intense. Although this kind of overly nervous thinking has negative consequences in the real world, it is taken for granted in the virtual world of horror. Therefore, if you are suffering from anxiety, horror movies actually provide a socially acceptable way for you to vent your anxiety.

So there are many reasons why people with anxiety find temporary relief in horror movies. This is because horror movies allow you to escape from the anxiety of the real world, provide you with a clear source of tension, and give you a sense of control when your anxiety makes you feel helpless. Although these may help you cope with anxiety in the moment, will your anxiety disappear when the movie or book is over?

Horror movies provide a cognitive simulation that allows people to experience fear within a safe range. In the cognitive field of virtual horror, people can know what different types of horror scenes look like and what feelings they will bring. By experiencing the virtual world, people can feel different emotions and practice different behavioral strategies, which may be applicable to other stressful or fearful situations. Although all this has not been directly demonstrated experimentally, there is evidence that it is possible.

For example, even if other personality traits are the same, horror movie fans have a stronger psychological resilience to the terrible events that occurred in 2020. Similarly, a survey of NOW TV users found that people who like doomsday themes reported that they were more prepared for a second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. In other words, people who like to watch fictional horror movies seem to be better able to cope with real-life terrible events.

Still from A Quiet Place. © original gifs/Tumblr

Of course, this doesn't work for everyone. People who hate horror movies won't get any benefit from watching them, while people who like horror movies will benefit a lot. However, there are many types of horror movies, and most people are not disgusted by horror movies. Whether it's a psychological thriller, a violent and bloody horror movie, or a zombie movie, you're likely to find a genre you like. So, if you're feeling anxious and need to escape, try finding relief in a fictional horror world.

By Coltan Scrivner

Translated by Rachel

Proofreading/Sue

Original article/nautil.us/issue/95/escape/why-horror-films-are-more-popular-than-ever

This article is based on a Creative Commons License (BY-NC) and is published by Rachel at Leviathan

The article only reflects the author's views and does not necessarily represent the position of Leviathan