Psychologists have claimed that horror films may actually be beneficial for you. Photo / 123RF
Psychologists have claimed that horror films may actually be beneficial for you. Photo / 123RF
Being scared to death while watching The Shining or The Exorcist might be a good thing for health, experts have suggested.
Psychologists have claimed that horror films may actually be beneficial for an individual’s well-being as they promote stress and pain relief through the release of endorphins and the reward hormone, dopamine.
Dr Kristen Knowles, a neuropsychologist at Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh, said: “Researchers have found that watching horror can improve pain tolerance due to endorphin production.
“Distraction from pain is also a likely explanation since attention and energy resources are diverted towards threat evaluation and away from other bodily functions,” she told The Herald.
Watching horror can improve pain tolerance due to endorphin production. Photo / 123RF
Endorphins are the body’s way of making us feel pleasure and reward and are produced by the brain when eating and exercising, for example.
They are also produced when the body feels pain or stress, such as when watching a jump-scare horror movie, as a method to help survival by blocking pain receptors.
Dr Knowles’ comments support a study by the University of Westminster, conducted in 2012, which found that watching a 90-minute horror movie burned roughly the same amount of calories as going on a short walk.
Scary films that ‘burn the most calories’
The Shining - 184 calories
The 1980 psychological thriller The Shining tops many lists as one of the scariest horror movies of all time. The unnerving take on the traditional haunted house story, featuring an iconic performance by Jack Nicholson, was shown to burn 184 calories for the average viewer.
The American supernatural horror film The Exorcist, from 1973, follows the possession of a young girl and her mother’s attempt to exorcise the demon and rescue her with two Catholic priests. The hit horror movie was shown to burn 158 calories per viewing - just shy of a bag of Maltesers.
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre - 107 calories
The 1974 American horror The Texas Chain Saw Massacre sees a group of friends fall victim to a family of cannibals while on their way to visit an old homestead. The low-budget film, loosely inspired by the crimes of Ed Gein, results in filmgoers sweating out a fearful 107 calories for its duration.
Films that featured the most “jump-scare” moments were the biggest calorie-burners owing to their effect on an individual’s heart rate.
She explained: “The body’s response to fear or suspense is to ramp up production of stress hormones, such as adrenalin, which mobilise your body’s energy resources.
“This is paired with increased heart rate and focused attention. This can all feel rather exhilarating when that tension is released at the end of the film.
“Doing this safely can feel good simply because it is thrilling – consider skydiving as a similar activity which is frightening but also euphoric.”
The evolutionary psychologist also cited a study from 2021 which showed that zombie film fans were better prepared for the coronavirus because they had “mentally rehearsed” for the pandemic.
Horror film fans were “more psychologically resilient in the face of Covid-19″, Dr Knowles said, with researchers suggesting that this may be a result of their frequent exposure to the “emotional exercise” of artificial threats.
John Johnson, the study author and emeritus professor of psychology from Pennsylvania State University - who worked with colleagues in Denmark, found that people who watched apocalyptic films such as 28 Days Later and Dawn of the Dead were better prepared.
People who watched apocalyptic films were better prepared for Covid-19. Photo / 123RF
Dr Knowles added that horror movies provide people with a “safe way” to explore being frightened because in films, “the objects of fear are discrete and more simplistic than in real life”.
She added: “Through this safe interaction, we can learn to cope with negative emotions and develop resilience to fear and stress.
“Ultimately this means we can become more resilient when stress comes in real life.”
Another study, conducted by researchers at Coventry University in 2009, compared the immune system responses in 30 young volunteers when they sat quietly in a room for 90 minutes, with when they watched the famous 1974 slasher Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
Blood tests conducted before and after the two activities showed “significant increases” in the levels of disease-fighting white blood cells, known as leukocytes, after an hour and a half with 1990 horror film Leatherface.
Dr Jan Smith, a horror film fan and health psychologist at Glasgow Caledonian University, said that filmgoers could be “hardwired” by evolution to seek out the experience of fear.
Ancestors lived in constant fear of threats
Dr Smith, who counts The Exorcist as her personal favourite, explained: “I think it does have some evolutionary roots, which trace back to our ancestors living in that constant fear of threats.
“We may be hardwired to want to experience those dangerous and threatening situations that you can get from watching a horror film.
“As humans today, we’re not necessarily going to be putting ourselves into those terrifying situations in real life, but horror films provide an outlet as well as that tension release.
“In research we call it the ‘excitation transfer’, or sense of release: as humans we have that flight or fight response – you either want to run away or stay and fight – and from that you get an accelerated heart rate, heavy breathing, and other physical sensations associated with danger.
“Having gone through that you get the positive experience of relief which can be quite enjoyable.”
