when I was a kid I hated horror every time I went to my mom's house though my
sisters would always want to watch a horror movie and I'd cry on the stairs
and call my dad and beg for him to drive me home early when I was 12 I overheard
my sister talking about the plot of Silence of the Lambs to her friend and I
just couldn't stop thinking about it every night that week my best friend was
a big horror fan too and she told me about Bloody Mary which if you don't
know about Bloody Mary it was a myth based on the Queen of England from the
1500s and the myth is basically if you turn off the lights and stand in front
of a mirror and say Bloody Mary three times she'll appear and murder you at
least that's how I heard it not only did I refuse to use the bathroom without
someone outside the door for a long time after that I also refused to look in the
mirror for long periods of time when I did my brain would freak me out and
frantically say Bloody Mary Bloody Mary over and over again and I'd get out of
the bathroom as quickly as I could it took me a long time to realise that
Bloody Mary wasn't real and even if she was she wouldn't appear if I didn't say
it out loud but that's just how I am these uncontrollable fears take over my
mind no matter how irrational and then just don't stop thinking about them when
I was 14 I finally watched my first horror movie on my own terms
child's play I curled up in a blanket and was at least 10 feet away from the
TV with the lights on and I actually enjoyed it to be fair it is also a
comedy so then I watched another horror movie and then another one and soon
enough I became horror obsessed another thing about me is I have frequent
nightmares especially when I'm stressed most consisting of being trapped in a
room or staring at a screen with scary images so one moment
I'm trapped witnessing something horrifying in my dream I wake up I put
on something horrifying to get my mind off of it why you may ask I have no clue
my guess is that it keeps my fears fictional it lets me take control of how
scared I am in a safe environment but it's not only restricted to nightmares
in general I experience a lot of day-to-day anxiety
and again someone might ask why the hell I'd like to watch horror when I'm always
so anxious but it's just me taking some control of my life I like being scared
for fun fear can make you get really excited and your heart starts racing but
this time you're laughing and smiling oh girl I know all about being terrified of
scary movies wait did you guys hear something what
was that it's Chris I just thought I'd chime in and drop some neuroscience
about anxiety before I do that though I need everyone to pause this video and go
subscribe to cosmos new youtube channel and you know what follow her on social
media while you're at it all that information will be down in the
description below she's an amazing artist who helps me out a lot with the
channel and she's doing some awesome things so yeah like I was saying I used
to be terrified of scary movies for most of my life and I'm a 34 year old man but
then I started dating my beautiful girlfriend Tristan who is horror movie
obsessed like Qadri milk I forced myself to watch scary movies and I actually
kind of liked them now how'd you milk and I've been doing the
same thing and it's called exposure therapy which is something anyone with
anxiety could do and I've actually just wrote a blog post about it so check it X
ayat comes from a part of the brain called the amygdala which is part of the
limbic system this little almond shaped part of the brain triggers our fight
flight or freeze response the amygdala is connected to the hippocampus and the
hippocampus is a part of our brain that stores our memories so the hippocampus
reminds the amygdala that we should be super scared of something and that's
when the amygdala gives us anxiety well the National Institute of Health has
published studies discussing how exposure therapy calls down the activity
of both the hippocampus and the amygdala which in turn makes you less anxious so
go out there and confront those fears baby girl and now back to Qadri milk
because of my reasons for watching horror though I realized I can't just
watch any scary movie I want for example most horror movies don't get to me I
watch them I have fun and that's it I've probably seen get out like 10 times and
enjoyed it every time but deer cut when I watched midsummer it was a whole
different situation I spent the last 20 minutes of that movie with my eyes
covered asking if it's okay to look I felt sick to my stomach I could barely
sleep that night which is funny because I slept like a baby after watching The
Human Centipede so I'm not entirely weak although don't be confused I do not like
that movie nor do I recommend it so creepy scary horrific movies okay
existential and eerie crap that gets into your head I've learned that it's
okay to set boundaries with yourself every once in a while it just isn't my
thing so all this being said I don't like
scary movies that just aren't scary in fact the worst part about horror movies
is they're so damn many of them finding a decent horror movie is like shoveling
a diamond out of manure it's not always easy but when you finally find a diamond
you forget about all the poop for a while although a diamond to me might
look like a rock to you so don't be overly concerned about trying to like
what other people like or pushing yourself to watch things you hate your
experience is probably very different from mine and horror is subjective you
might be scared of mannequins and dolls while I'm scared of a booth in the
live-action elem movie horror is subjective don't sweat it
thanks everybody for watching but I even bigger thank you to cashew milk she did
an amazing job she is going to explode here on YouTube so make sure that you go
check out the description down below go subscribe to her new youtube channel
follow her over on Instagram and Twitter and her and I actually have some really
cool projects coming up but thanks again everybody for watching and we'll see you
next time