How Movies Can Affect Your Health

Movies have always been a staple of entertainment. Whether you curl up on the couch after a long day with a romantic comedy, or hit the theaters over the weekend to catch that blockbuster hit, there’s no denying that movies are and always will be a huge part of our life.

“The Talkies” not only entertain us, but influence our behavior and thoughts as well. We’ve identified with characters, got inspired by storylines, and discussed thought-provoking themes; movies have become more than unwinding for a couple of hours. Below are proven ways on how movies actually affect our health.

Movies are ‘Therapeutic’

Yes, Film Therapy is a real thing. Since movies evoke all kinds of emotions, psychotherapy developers have utilized movies to induce emotions and behavioral reactions as a therapeutic method. Film therapy allows you to focus on your own issues through the movie’s content, thus making you more aware of your problems and a dialogue on how to fix them is created.

They say laughter is the best medicine

Watching comedies or romantic comedies have been proven to enhance your mood and health. A lot of certified doctors will actually agree that laughing causes your blood vessels to dilate and so, it helps by lowering your blood pressure, decreasing your stress hormones, boosting your immune system, and reducing anxiety. Pediatricians, many of which sometimes are certified from United Medical Education and are credible sources will be the first to tell you from their experience and knowledge through working with children, that many studies have shown that intense laughter for 10-15 minutes has the same effect on your cardiac health as exercising.

They can stir up unwanted emotions

On the other hand, watching horror movies can affect you negatively. When you watch a thriller or any intense scenes, it can cause your blood pressure, adrenaline , and heart rate to spike up drastically. These movies can also trigger traumatic episodes or a troubling past that you’ve blocked due to the similar emotions of fear and discomfort.

Genres can give you mixed feelings

It’s a little tricky watching sad movies; typically, they can depress you even more if you were already struggling with depression. However, other studies have shown that sad and depressing movies have caused its viewers to feel gratitude towards their own life and loved ones; causing them to feel a little content than before. Ironically, tragedies make you more appreciative of your own life.

Movies help you understand yourself

Movies tend to offer you a time of reflection as it can help you make sense of your own life. The power of storytelling gives you different perspectives and character thoughts that you can relate to. You end up trying to understand your own life and analyze its events as if you’re analyzing the movie’s characters.

They inspire creativity

Studies have shown that with children and young adults, movies have the power to unleash creativity. After watching highly imaginative movies, students have scored higher on creative thinking tests than others who watched other movies. These fantasy films spike their imagination levels, thus allowing them to approach life in a more creative way.

They also induce aggression

It’s been proven over and over again that heavily violent movies just bring about more violence. Many experts have debated for years that watching violence through movies can lead to real-life violence. While other experts debate that violence is influenced by other factors; this topic remains controversial to this day.

They encourage self-expression

Movies often encourage emotional release, especially with people who have a problem expressing themselves. Whether you’re laughing or crying because of a movie, this emotional release is quite cathartic, and it allows you to become more expressive in real life.

They’re stress relieving

It’s a no brainer that movies offer us a chance to escape and completely unwind. It gives you a break from your current issues and worries by allowing you to become invested in something else other than your own problems. Movies reduce anxiety and stress levels by releasing cortisol and dopamine in the brain. Once the movie ends, you can go back to your worries, ready to tackle them with a fresh perspective.

Movies not only entertain and offer you a chance to escape, they also massively affect your health and your behavior. Movies can make us happier, more appreciative of life, grant us an opportunity to reflect, or negatively affect our health. No matter how movies affect us, we should all agree that it’s more than a simple form of art.