Honey, I scared the kids

Horror movies are more likely to distress and traumatise children than to entertain them, says a psychologist.

PETALING JAYA: If it’s movie night and you’re set on watching the latest horror flick, a psychologist suggests that you leave the little ones out of the picture.

Dr Eugene Tee, an emotions researcher and lecturer at HELP University, said psychological trauma could result from watching horror movies at a young age, though the effect might vary with individuals.

“Emotional scarring can be understood more broadly as a form of psychological trauma,” he told FMT. “Traumatic or distressing events can have long-term, adverse consequences for well-being.”

He said psychological trauma was more prevalent among younger children as they usually lacked the ability to separate fact from fiction.

“Exposing them to horror movies is more likely to distress and traumatise than to entertain them.”

He said the experience of strong emotions early in a person’s life could have a host of adverse psychological effects, which could in turn increase the likelihood of developing mental dysfunctions such as post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression.

“More generally, the individual learns to fear similar stimuli in the future. For instance, if an individual has a terrifying first encounter with spiders, the impression left with him can place him in a state of being perpetually vigilant and sensitive to spiders.

“The human brain is conditioned to learn fear quickly in the interest of our survival. I imagine the same would occur when people learn fear from horror movies.

“Horror movies often have elements of the supernatural or paranormal and violent scenes that usually result in the death of an on-screen character.

“Learning about mortality and the ending of a character’s life in such a gruesome manner would leave an impression on a young, innocent mind.

“The child may even grow up to relive or, at the very least, easily recall a traumatic scene from the horror movie in another situation or circumstance.”

He quoted a 1999 study on media psychology conducted by Steven J Hoekstra, Richard Jackson Harris and Angela L Helmick, which suggested that the effects of exposure to horror movies were greater among younger viewers.

“The younger the viewer, the stronger the lasting impression and possibility of being traumatised by viewing something distressing like a scene from a horror movie,” said Tee.

“The study shows that if the viewer empathises with and takes the perspective of the actors in the horror movie, he is likely to also vicariously feel the distress, pain, or injury of the characters onscreen.”

He spoke of various forms of treatments for psychological trauma, ranging from cognitive-behavioural therapy to exposure therapy.

In cognitive-behavioural therapy, unhelpful thought patterns are identified and corrected. Exposure therapy involves gradually exposing individuals to the trigger of the anxiety or horror-eliciting object to the point where the individual is desensitised and so would be comfortable enough to not react to it.

Tee said anti-depressants were sometimes prescribed for those recovering from trauma.

But prevention is always better than cure. He said there might not be any need for any of these treatments if children were not exposed to horror movies in the first place.

It is also not recommended for squeamish or nervous adults to try to build tolerance to horror.

“It just doesn’t seem a necessary or useful ability to have unless you need to review horror movies for a living,” he said. “Just be keenly aware that when you are watching a horror movie what is portrayed on screen is mostly fiction. And know your own limits when it comes to this genre of entertainment.” -FMT