A lot of feedback from our unwanted thoughts post was from young people scared half to death from watching scary movies.
So here’s some specifics for that particular problem. This was the actual list I sent a young girl so scared she slept with a bible.
I’ve kept this post very short to get to the solutions straight away…
Know this:
- You’re not alone — most people freak out after watching scary movies, even adults.
- YOU ARE SAFE. You aren’t in any more danger now than you were before… it’s just a movie.
- You won’t feel scared for long. It will soon pass.
- Scary movies are made to scare you, that’s their job.
- Part of your mind can’t tell the difference between a movie and real life. It’s THIS part that freaks out, but YOU know… it’s just a movie. Because of this, it’s best to be careful what you feed your mind — what you watch, think and imagine!
Do this:
- Do some exercise: You are in a “fight or flight” state so act it out — dance or run about, jog on the spot, do star jumps, skip, have a pillow fight, do some shadow boxing or press ups… whatever.
- Watch “behind the scenes” videos to take the realness out of the movie, so you see clearly; “It’s just a movie.”
- Do what you can to feel safe: Be with people. Get lots of hugs from your parents, friends, even a pet or a big cuddly toy. Use a night-light.
- Keep your mind distracted: Watch comedy, get absorbed in a good book, listen to relaxing music, anything you can to distract your mind. Each time a thought comes up, remind yourself “It’s just a movie” and distract.
- To help you sleep, play the famous lullaby tune by Brahms below. Relaxing soundtracks like waves crashing on the beach would also be very good. Then when it’s time to sleep, use this relaxation technique: Put all your attention into your feet, feel your feet tingling and relax them, then move through every part of your body doing the same thing until you fall asleep.
“I want to say that a while ago I saw this article, it was the night after I saw a scary movie. I haven’t really thought about it since like, 3 months ago! This really helps!”— Katie, USA
FAQ
Q PLEASE HELP ME!!!
A If you follow all the tips in the article as best you can, that’s the fastest way to get back to normal. It’s all there, everything you need to know and do. Please leave a comment below if you’re having trouble following the advice.
Q Why am I sooooo scared just from watching a movie?
A Your mind reacts instinctively to perceived danger and changes your physical and mental state in order to deal with the danger — the “fight or flight” state. We evolved in nature where danger was real, like lions, and your brain still works that way. More about this →
Q Why am I hearing noises in my house after watching scary movies?
A If your mind thinks “danger,” your body changes to a “fight or flight” state. One of these changes is that you notice sounds that you normally wouldn’t notice. Your house always makes these sounds but you normally filter them out.
Q Why are my friends better at watching scary movies than I am?
A We’re all different. If you were to measure fear reaction in you and all your friends, you would get what is called a “normal distribution.” Most people would be somewhere in the middle, a few would not be affected at all and a few would have an over-reaction. There’s lots of reasons why you react like you do… genetics, previous experiences, beliefs, sensitivity etc. Everyone is different.
Q If my friends are watching a scary movie, I have to go along or I will be left out. What should I do?
A Go along if you want to, but don’t get sucked into it. Keep moving your attention away and back, away and back… like… look at objects in the room, notice the objects in the background of the movie rather than on the action, look to see how your friends freak out at the really scary bits :-) And you can keep remembering “that’s just a guy wearing make-up,” “just back a bit is the camera crew and director.” All sort of tricks like this to “keep it real.”
If the music builds up and you know there’s a scare coming, close your eyes or hide behind a pillow! Lots of people do it and the rest will be too absorbed to see what you’re doing.
A few fluttery moments of thrill are what you want from a movie. Losing sleep over it means it wasn’t worth it.
You could take your own DVDs to sleepovers, and see if a great comedy can tempt people away from horror. If you know in advance it’s going to be a horror marathon, you could just skip the event. Your friends won’t ditch you over one blow-off, and you get to spend time with them you actually enjoy.
If you’re REALLY sensitive and know you can’t handle it, then just say “No thanks.”
Q Why can’t I sleep after watching a scary movie?
A As you settle down to sleep, there are no distractions for your mind, it’s just you and your thoughts. It seems as though you are looking at your thoughts through a big magnifying glass.
Whatever you fear, you will be reminded of — it’s just a primitive part of your mind protecting you against what you saw as danger. If you react with anxiety to your thoughts, your body makes adrenaline as part of the “fight or flight” reaction. This will keep you awake and stop you sleeping. Then a vicious cycle of more thinking, more anxiety and so on.
To prevent this happening, you need another focus and to stay relaxed. To do this, play the famous lullaby tune as soon as you get into bed. Put your attention on the music. This will give your mind something to focus on and the calming effect of the music will help you relax. When it’s time to sleep, use the relaxation technique (tip 5) to keep your mind off scary thoughts.
If you wake in the night, remember, “it’s just a movie, no real danger” and then immediately use the relaxation technique again until you go back to sleep.
Q What about movies that are based on true stories?
A Saying a movie is based on actual events is just a way to get you more scared. An unusual event is often used to make unquestioned false assumptions, distorted, and then built upon further to end up with a story that has zero truth in it. In short, you can safely assume that no scary movie is true. It’s just a silly movie.
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Michael Kinnaird is the author of Happy Guide, the result of a 20 year exploration into what works for health and happiness.
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I have been listening to the lullaby for 1 hour the tips arnt helping i cant take my mind off the story evrywhere i look theres somthing,my closet the window even the computer.
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Hi Micki, if the fear is intense you need to exercise. ~ Mike
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I just read the smith sisters story and im really scared im sitting shaking in my bed.I have always been scared of the dark, and hated anything even slightly scary. I thought the story would have a funny ending but I cant get it out of my head. I Know its not true but my head is making it feel real.Im 13 and cant get to sleep please help me.
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Hi Micki,
If you follow all the tips in the article as best you can, that’s the fastest way to get back to normal. It’s all there, everything you need to know and do. Please leave another comment if you’re having trouble following the advice. ~ Mike
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I watched Paranormal Activity, Insidious movies and I’ve been really scared of demons and haven’t been able to go sleep at night. I shouldn’t be thinking of it, it’s just stupid and not real. I’ve had this feeling for months, and it’s only just gone away and now it’s come back because the new Paranormal Activity is coming out soon and silly me watched the trailer!! I have anxiety.
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Hi Eleanor,
If you follow all the tips in the article as best you can, that’s the fastest way to get back to normal. It’s all there, everything you need to know and do. Exercise first, to get rid of your anxiety. ~ Mike
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HElP ME! Im a 14 year old boy and at school some kids were allowed to go watch a movie in class. It was called halloween and there was some kid and im not gonna continue im too sacred if you wanna know whuts it about look it up im to scared. The thing is is that the kid was psychopath and that exists and a friend knew someone who killed his parents and went mad he told me now I cant sleep and I feel really bad and I really want a hug from someone now. =(
PS. The movie wa sso horid that I passed out and with my head I hit my chair when I passed out. I had a headache all day and im really freaked out.
Sorry for my long comment. But I need help. Im reading donald duck and mickey mouse comics like crazy at the moment, and im also watching ducktales and darkwing duck. im feeling a lil better but still not good.
And a girl in my class smiled at me and gave me some of her water to make me feel better and when she smiled I felt a lot less fearand I felt good for a few seconds. Girls are awesome but im still scared!
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Hi Vincent,
Well you’re doing the right thing to keep your mind distracted. Be sure to read and follow all the tips so that you can be confident you’re doing all the right things and then it’s a matter of being patient and allowing the fear to die away without fuss.
I agree… girls are awesome :-)
~ Mike
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have you seen hellRaiser? I am 15 years old and this stuff still scares the hell out of me every dam time I watch it. I cant walk down my hallway for hours after watching this movie I even sometimes resort to urinating in a bottle because I am so freaked out that the engineer demon will chase the hell out of me and rip my head off. How can I get rid of this fear of always thinking that a character from this movie will come into reality and get me. I am religious so I believe in demons and angels and stuff like that so it adds to the fear alot. I carry a bat around my house as well.
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Hi Alex,
These movies are designed to make you react like you are doing. They try to make you believe because then you’ll be scared to death and that’s why you watched no? Otherwise why bother :-)
Fear taps into some primitive mechanisms in your brain that make you react in a certain way, but you can just observe those reactions and see their cause is just a movie. Nothing in the movie is real, it’s just the result of someone’s sick imagination. So… that is what’s true.
Once you know that the cause of your fear is a silly movie, then it will go quickly. If you invest belief into it, you’ll make it difficult to go because you are reinforcing the primitive reaction with importance, with truth.
Then your brain will continue, will even ramp it up because you think the fear is valid, that there is danger.
So see it as just a silly movie. Exercise adrenaline away and then stay feeling safe and stay distracted. If you get fear flashes, see them as useless, caused by a stoopid movie, and distract.
If scary movies keep scaring the hell out of you and you don’t like it, maybe stop doing it :-) If your friends all want to and you can’t get out of it, then be more interested in their reactions than the movie… you will see it’s funny :-) Don’t let your attention be sucked into the movie, keep looking about the room, thinking about tomorrow and so-on.
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