Why (some of us) Love Being Scared (According to JustGirlProject)

It’s that time of year again when most people are looking for their next scream. The spooky season that culminates with Halloween is dotted with scary movies, haunted hayrides, and lawns that are decorated with spiderwebs, ghosts and gravestones. For the most part being afraid is unpleasant feeling. So why do we like it so much, especially around Halloween? The people at the Instagram handle JustGirlProject have a few reasons.

• “The adrenaline rush”

I’m addicted to adrenaline. When I used to go to the beach I’d tackle the highest waves (and subsequently swallow gallons of water and end up with a runny nose). At amusement parks, I’d head straight toward the tallest, fastest and (consequently) the one with the biggest lines. Somewhere on my bucket list is cage diving with sharks (though I do reserve the right to change my mind). Halloween is a perpetual high for me with all the horror movies and haunted houses. My best friend is the only person I know who likes Halloween more than me but she’s more into the aesthetic than adrenaline. 

• Conquering fear feels good

In college, my ex took  me to a place called Reapers Revenge which was a haunted house. Those who didn’t want to be touched by the actors were given wristbands. I teased my ex because he opted for a wristband. But I wanted the full experience. I wanted ghosts and vampires and hideous creatures of all kinds scaring the shit out of me. And me conquering it all.

• We feel a sense of control when we realize whatever is scaring us is not a real threat

This actually works out in therapy sometimes through something called exposure therapy. When I was growing up  my OCD made me fear different food contaminates. I have spoken about this before: I was very afraid of cheese, mayonnaise and mustard. If I touched cheese or touched something that touched cheese I would have to wash my hands. If I saw my dad or mom touch cheese I would make them wash their hands because they now had “cheese hands”. I worked through my fear in therapy touching cheese and then waiting for increasingly amounts of time to wash my hands. I guess it worked because today not only do I touch cheese, I eat it. Mozzarella was the first cheese since I had always eaten pizza anyway. Then I started venturing into new territory: mac and cheese (both Kraft and homemade), fondue, mild types of cheese that didn’t smell or otherwise offend. And that’s how I took control of something which had once been a threat but no longer was.

• Scary things can bring alot of excitement in our lives. 

This year I am going to carve out time to have a horror movie marathon with one of my best friends. When I know I’m going to see a horror movie in theaters (sometimes with Justin, usually not) my heart will leap with excitement. I am 29 and I still haven’t decided if I like jump scares but anything moving in the shadows has me on the edge of my seat. Money well spent. BTW movies are scarier in theaters.

• Our brains release dopamine when we are scared. 

My mom complained to my therapist about all the horror movies I was watching in high school. My therapist (who didn’t know the movies were quite as dark as they were) told my mom that the scary movies were actually good at jolting me out of the moods I would fall into. 

• It’s a strong distraction from other stressors

            I watched a lot of horror movies in high school to distract me from friend troubles, boy troubles, a school that put way too much academic pressure on me, my mental illnesses (one diagnosed, one undetected). In other words “fear” help me to survive something much scarier.