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Excited to add a clinical perspective to this paper on how horror may reduce momentary anxiety and potential applications of horror media in evidence based therapies. We are very interested in feedback on this topic! Here are some clinical psych thoughts: https://twitter.com/MorbidPsych/status/1357144300027580420
1. Many people with anxiety like horror! This is odd...usually anxiety = avoidance of anxiety-provoking stimuli. So what drives this engagement? We propose there are likely some negative reinforcement processes at play, such that horror reduces momentary anxiety.
2. This isn't necessarily good or bad. In some cases, this engagement might be reinforcing sx of anxiety (using horror to avoid other anxiety situations). On the other hand, it may provide an opportunity for learning new skills or ways to manage emotional experiences.
3. Horror, by design, is entertaining and reliably generates high levels of fear and anxiety. So maybe we can use horror in therapeutic context to teach skills to manage these emotions! We propose some ideas guided by evidence-based therapies including CBT and exposure therapy.
4. Can we use horror as a way to teach people what thoughts and sensations are associated with the emotion of anxiety? This could be helpful for people with low emotional clarity.
5. Can we use horror to challenge maladaptive thoughts about the meaning of our emotions (emotional reasoning)? To practice non-judgmentally experiencing somatic symptoms? To learn how to reappraise?
6. Horror media often reflects sociocultural concerns. Can we use these examples to evaluate the probability of feared things occurring and practice coping ahead when our fears are things that are realistic? Horror could lower barriers for engaging with such fears.
Note: There is a fantastic humanities literature on the idea of horror as a method for processing anxiety and trauma. We stick to the framework of evidence-based treatments, but would be remiss not to mention that the idea of horror as therapeutic is in no way new.
Also I love feedback so any and all thoughts on the topic are much appreciated so that we can produce a manuscript that is comprehensive, informative, and useful for readers.
