Can Horror Movies Cause Trauma?
The Fascinating Reasons Why We Love Being Terrified
The fact that some people pay money for a horror movie in the cinema, only to cover their face with their hands to avoid watching it, has always fascinated me. In this article, we will dig deeper into what fear really is and why humans crave it.
Let’s start by giving the word fear a precise definition. According to Merriam Webster 1828 dictionary: Fear is an unpleasant, often strong emotion caused by anticipation or awareness of danger.
So, a priori, fear seems something we shouldn’t like. Unpleasant sensations like danger are human beings, and any living organism tries to avoid them at all costs.
Then, why do we love horror movies and series? What motivates people who love horror films to voluntarily expose themselves to fear and anguish when these are negative sensations that most of the time we try to avoid?
In On the Consumption of Negative Feelings, Eduardo B. Andrade, Joel B. Cohen, explains that these films activate the limbic system, the brain area in charge of controlling emotions and affective life.
How does our body change when we are afraid?
Obviously, in a natural scenario, if we fear an enemy, our body tries to prepare to run away by injecting extra blood into our legs. It also increases its clotting capacity to anticipate an eventual injury.
But that feeling that we have to escape because otherwise, a pack of wolves will devour us is not the one that crushes us on the couch to see The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
The key: dopamine. In situations of fear, anger, or stress, adrenaline levels are triggered. This generates in a short time an intense feeling of well-being and stimulates the production of dopamine, one of the misnamed “happiness hormones” (if you want to know why I say “misnamed,” take a look at this article by Diego Salinas).
That is why people who like horror movies also enjoy other adrenaline activities, such as canyoning, skydiving, bungee jumping, etc.
But, is it necessary to be equipped in any way to watch a horror movie? Well, not much apart from some popcorn. And this is an advantage, without preparations, in the comfort of home, we can experience adrenaline situations safely, at our own pace, watching good old Freddy Krugger scratching human flesh.
I got it, but can scary movies cause real trauma?
It is easy to associate the word trauma with the word children. And yes, kids can have real psychological and emotional problems when watching these types of movies.
A study by New York-Presbyterian Hospital reveals that they are also highly likely to suffer from insomnia, nightmares, anxiety, and aggressive or risky behavior for themselves or others.
The study focused on children under five years old who cannot yet clearly see the difference between the fiction they see on the screen and reality.
A meta-analysis published in 2015, meanwhile, qualified those claims.
It noted that children are more resilient than previously assumed, and that the effects on them of horror movies or movies containing a lot of violence depend on many other variables, such as the environment in which they grow up, the type of upbringing, and personality.
In any case, recent studies have shown that the possible negative effect of scary movies on children is mitigated by two factors: that they watch them in the company of other children of the same age or adults -especially if they are smiling and calm- and that they have conversations with their parents about the fears generated by the film after watching it.
What about adults?
In some people, reading horror books or watching horror movies, especially before bedtime, can cause nightmares, as explained by experts at the Mayo Clinic in the United States in an article on the so-called nightmare disorder.
We all have nightmares. It is only referred to as a disorder when someone suffers from them very frequently, and they cause behavioral problems during the day or fear of having to go back to sleep.
However, the causes of this disorder are usually very varied: stress or anxiety, a previous traumatic event, sleep deprivation, alcohol or drug use (or drug withdrawal syndrome), depression, or other mental health disorders.
Movies are mostly an aggravating factor but hardly a concrete cause.
I love horror movies.
I have to say I’ve really enjoyed some scary movies like REC -2007(the original version in Spanish, delicatessen!), The Others -2001 and more recently Midsommar-2019.
I am convinced that they have very positive effects and many times, the only thing we ask from the cinema is to be really moved. And good horror knows how to do that.
I believe that the delicate situation is in childhood. I do not favor any prohibitionist experiment; as the Spanish philosopher Escohotado puts it, they always become an aberration.
Having that said, I support a little manipulation of the environment so that children do not have access to some movies according to certain ages. Then, when the children are a little older, watching the movie with them can be a fun experience.
So, now that we know why fear can be fun, tell me:
What was the last movie that literally froze your blood?
