Fighting Madness with Horror?
Story by Chuck Dickson | Design & Illustration by Sarah Stewart
How many times have you felt crippling fear and anxiety wash over you like a cold wave that takes your breath away and stuns you? How often does stress stalk you and haunt you like the monster in your closet or under your bed?
Where do you go to find solace and comfort, to escape the demons who plague you and affect your mental and emotional health? Interestingly enough, many people actively enjoy horror movies and video games to feel their stress and anxiety in a normalized way.
Halle Jourdan, a mental health worker at Comprehensive Healthcare and therapist in training, has dealt with her fair share of stress and anxiety both on and off the job. “When I want to get away from my own reality and my own anxiety, I like to watch horror movies,” Jourdan says. “In a nice way, they’re not relatable. They’re gory, violent, psychological, and some have loose endings. I like being able to escape by watching something that is not real to me.”
Jourdan says it is not just horror movies she enjoys; she also loves to play horror video games, like The Evil Within, Little Nightmares and Layers of Fear. “I like to play things that are more gory and make me anxious,” Jourdan says. “It’s weird; when I watch movies, I do it to escape my anxiety. But when I play horror games, I start sweating. I put myself in a situation to be fearful and anxious. That’s probably about as close to the situation [of anxiety] I want to be in,” she says with a laugh.
Jourdan further shares how she fully engages in the horror experience; she watches horror movies in the dark, alone, at night. “My boyfriend hates it,” Jourdan says.
Ultimately for Jourdan, it comes down to a sense of reality or lack thereof. “It is contradicting when I play video games versus watching horror movies. I get fearful during the video game, but it’s not real,” Jourdan says. “When I watch horror movies, it is a healthy anxiety or fear. While these movies are not real, the things in these movies might have actually happened to some people. And that is terrifying.” Jourdan is not the only person who copes with anxiety through horror movies.
Maddy Wilson, an alumni of CWU and a social work major, also enjoys the horror genre, particularly horror books as well as horror movies. “I have been diagnosed with general anxiety disorder, and I have had anxiety for as long as I can remember,” Wilson says. “Something about the horror genre, even general thriller books or TV shows, it allows an outlet for me to express my anxiety where it’s warranted. A lot of people have anxiety about things we cannot control, but when you put yourself in a false reality, it almost makes it easier because then there is a warranted reason to evoke those feelings in me.”
She also discusses the bridge between general anxiety and those who do not have it. “For people who do not have anxiety, I think that horror films provide them with that shock value or feeling scared,” Wilson says. “For people who have anxiety, you have that feeling all the time. There are things I fear all the time or am fixated on. Sometimes it is nice to feel how other people are feeling. When watching these films, it’s nice to know you are not so different.”
Wilson continued to discuss her views and shared her favorite subgenres, movies and even books. While horror can be viewed as a way to relieve stress and anxiety, Wilson says it is not for everyone. “I definitely believe that it’s really unique to the person. The solace I find in horror films can be found in comedy films. It depends on the person and while [horror] may be a benefit for me, it is not a benefit for everyone,” Wilson says.
With respect to all viewpoints and perspectives, the horror genre can be seen as a way to experience healthy anxiety and stress as a way to cope. No promise can be made that it is a cure-all, but it may be a way to alleviate any tension you feel.
In the meantime, perhaps it is time to explore the possibilities. Grab some popcorn, turn out the lights and put on your favorite horror movie. Who knows? You may find it is exactly what you need and what you have been missing.
SIDE BAR:
As someone who has dealt with their own issues of stress and anxiety, I find a weird comfort when I watch horror movies. Interestingly enough, I become incredibly analytical when watching horror movies. I make it a mission to find out the details of a horror movie: when’s the next jumpscare? Who is the killer? What is the motive? And will there be a twist ending? This is helpful to me because it allows me to focus on a specific task or concept and shut everything else out from the world. Seriously, being laser focused on Michael Myers trying to kill his sister for the umpteenth time is a way for me to relax and shut my brain off. Typically I enjoy movies that have a sense of realism or deal with the paranormal. The Conjuring film series used to absolutely terrify me, but the terror has since waned. Nothing against it, it has simply lost its luster for me over the years. One movie that always scares me is The Hills Have Eyes: a family stranded in the New Mexico desert being picked off by mutant cannibals? Ooh it still gives me chills! That’s the kind of thing that could ACTUALLY happen, and isn’t that scary? I suppose that’s what I am terrified of the most: the horrors humankind can actually accomplish when they lose their humanity.
