How Movies Are Helping My Mental Health
“As Carrie Fisher once said in a film: everyone thinks they have good taste and a sense of humour.”
― Jane Green, Mr. Maybe
There are a few moments throughout my life that I remember having such an impact on my mental health compared to now. When I was a kid, I remember being stuck at home a lot. It was a mixture of getting pretty sickly in my early years, combined with the fact I was very injury prone. Seriously — I’m clumsy as hell.
When I’d be stuck at home I’d watch movies all day. I mean every waking moment was spent with a movie on. This is where I found my love of movies. Especially musicals. I’m a sucker for Grease and Dancing in the Rain; if you ever want to get me going.
Of course, I’d watch the typical animated and blockbuster movies as well. Each day there would be a new movie for me to watch. After I awhile I’d end up rewatching the same films on repeat. Jurassic Park and Back to the Future became staples in my yearly movie watchlist.
These movies allowed me to escape from what was hurting me. I could go to this fantastic world and see these heroes overcome their trials. That was it: that’s what I got from these movies. I needed to escape. Sometimes, I wish I still could. But as you know, when we grow up — so does the world.
As a global community, we are at war with a virus. A tiny little thing we cannot see is affecting our lives and health. To better protect society and each other, our governments are asking us to do our part and self-distance for the betterment of us all. Many have been secluded in solitude, absent the luxury of friends and family. Personally, I’m on week two.
During these times, I find myself again turning back to movies. I started watching them as a way to visualize my feelings and emotions. But I no longer wanted to escape: I wanted to learn more about myself. That’s what led me to begin dealing with issues I hadn’t allowed myself to realize before. I became hyper-emotional and aware of my sensitivity to certain aspects of life. At times it would be tiring, but overall beneficial. I found it to be an effective method to help in my struggle with mental health.
But lately, with the isolation, I’ve realized this method has been making me feel more cut off than ever before. I didn’t understand until recently that the reason this method was so helpful to me in the past, was because after I’d go through these emotional bouts with myself, I’d interact with my friends. Which in turn strengthened this new understanding I had built. Without the follow-up relations with my friends, I’m stuck with myself: over-analyzing these grand revelations and breaking them down to a point of uselessness.
Each day is a new start. Now, I’m allowing myself the freedom to escape again. Each movie is a journey that takes me out of my room and out of my head. The more movies I watch, the more I allow myself to escape; I realize my emotions are becoming more positive. Wow, that was a lot of “mores”. I swear there won’t be anymore. Whoops…
Anyway, I guess I’m trying to say that I’m starting to have fun again. I’m finding movies I haven’t watched since I was a kid; it’s been a total nostalgia trip. I’m smiling. I’m laughing. There are still some tears admittedly, but it feels good. It’s a treat to have access to so many movies during these times and I’m thankful for that.
I think that’s the focus I want to have with these posts until we get through this. Each post should be fun; an open discussion of movies we love. I want to talk about them with you. So let’s use this technology we have to communicate; we don’t have to go it alone. Join me on this journey of escape into the world of film. Be safe and stay indoors. Let’s have fun watching movies, together. Who knows; maybe we can have a weekly movie night together?
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