Will watching horror movies make us more brave?

Many people wonder if watching scary movies really gives viewers any real benefit? If your body is immune to a bacterium after experiencing the infection caused by that bacterium, is the brain also immune to scary things by watching the screen?

To answer this, we first need to understand how the brain will react to fear.

The reaction of the brain when people are afraid

The best horror movies are often movies that focus on deep psychological insecurity. If these films only mention things that are completely unrealistic, your brain will not feel any threat. The purpose of horror movies is to scare the things that are on the film that can happen in real life, causing viewers to be frightened and obsessed with the sources of terror.

One of your brain areas involved in handling these threats is the Almond Tongue (mygdala).

Almonds are almond shaped blocks of almonds, with many neurons connected together in the brain. This brain region handles the original fears that people possess and express. Clearly, Hias almonds do not perform independent functions but are strongly associated with two other brain regions, the hypothalamus (Hypothalamus) and the hippocampus (Hippocampus). The hypothalamus is responsible for making us react to these fears in the way that the human brain processes: it's screaming and trying to run away.

The hypothalamus is responsible for making us react to these fears in the way that the human brain processes.

The almonds activate the parasympathetic nervous system through the hypothalamus (HPA axis), then instruct the adrenal gland to secrete hormones for an anti-repulsion or flight response - Adrenaline (also known as Epinephrine). When circulating in the blood, Adrenaline causes your body to feel a sense of fear, including increased heart rate, sweating in the palms, dry mouth, shortness of breath and increased blood flow to the skeletal muscles. This is why you dance, scream or become more agile when watching a horror movie, because your brain is ordering the body to quickly escape the danger zone!

Left brain region - Hippocampus allows your brain to recognize the situation. This area ensures viewers know that they only watch a movie and that there is no horror in the movie that really harms people in real life.

Does horror movies make the brain immune to scary things?

So far, no one has been sure about this. There is little evidence that watching horror movies makes you better equipped to deal with scary situations in real life. However, the high alertness that an experienced person experiences after watching a horror movie can be beneficial to help him avoid similar scary situations. However, very few studies have been done to conclude or negate the hypothesis.

On the other hand, there is some evidence that watching horror movies can help you overcome fear.

The treatments are based on the exercise of the ability to endure suffering. In particular, the ability to curb high-level fear reactions will be developed by allowing patients to continually interact with the object of fear. Exposure-based therapies are applied to obsessions that people encounter; This can also apply to horror movies. The fear of horror movies or a certain aspect of horror movies can be relieved when patients come into contact with it many times. From there, the method will make your body think that what makes you scared doesn't really cause any harm.

Enjoying a scary movie can benefit the brain when dealing with other stressors.

There are many studies that show that enjoying a scary movie can benefit the brain when dealing with other stressors. Some people have reported that watching horror movies helps them deal with feelings of insecurity because this activity gives them a large amount of adrenaline, which helps reduce anxiety symptoms.

In short, everyone has different reactions to horror movies. Some people are thrilled, while the feeling of watching movies is no different from other people. It all depends on the individual brain and the ability to handle the fear of the brain. Therefore, horror movies can be considered a way to improve the way you deal with fear and scary situations.

1. Why are you afraid of ghosts but still enjoy watching horror movies?
2. Why do people like to watch horror movies?