Spooky season is upon us! The pumpkins are lit and ghouls and goblins will soon come rap-rap-rapping on your chamber door for some candy. It’s a great time to watch your favorite horror movies, explore a haunted house, or play a macabre trick on a friend. Have you ever wondered why we delight in doing frightful things? Why does being scared feel good? Turns out we’re wired to enjoy a good jump scare every now and then. Our brains are built for BOOs!
Get your stakes ready and read on as we lift the coffin lid on this subject
The Paradox of Horror
Humans, like most animals, go out of our way to avoid things that make us uncomfortable. So why do we like being scared? Isn’t being gripped in a state of terror- heart pounding, pulse racing- a bad thing? Not when you have control over it.
When we’re scared, what we’re feeling is called an activation of the sympathetic nervous system. This is a hard-wired stress response that increases our heart rate and breathing rate, induces sweating, dilates pupils, heightens our senses, and puts our bodies in a state of fight or flight. One of the reasons why being scared feels good is that it allows us to feel the adrenaline rush and hyperarousal of our senses in a safe setting.
Coping With Stress
Studies have found that the experience of being scared can help people cope with long-term stressful situations. Horror movies and spooky stories become a kind of exposure therapy, getting someone gradually acclimated to their stress response so it doesn’t hit as hard when it comes. If you’re someone who finds themselves getting stressed out a lot, taking some time to get scared during your leisure time can help you alleviate some of that stress while getting you more in tune to how your body processes and reacts to stress.
Part of that coping effect comes from how regularly “shocking” your stress response system can help you better anticipate future threats and sources of stress. Learning what can scare you and how you can prepare yourself to react to it could make you better able to spot potential stressors before they exert any hold on you.
Togetherness Through Terror
Fright night or date night? Why not both? There’s a reason why scary movies and date nights so often go hand in hand. When we’re scared, our body becomes flooded with released hormones and neurochemicals. These hormones include dopamine, oxytocin, and endorphins. That potent cocktail of hormones makes you feel good, increases your energy levels, and encourages feelings of attachment and bonding. The feeling of being scared is in many ways similar to the physical responses your body goes through when you’re romantically excited; the sweat on your palms and quickened breath could just as easily come from sitting close to your sweetheart as it does from watching Backrooms.
Article by Austin Brietta
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