Physiology and psychology go hand-in-hand in terms of fear. First comes the physical effect, then the brain is notified of potential threats within a frightening event.
Fear is perception. An individual might perceive a roller coaster as a threat to safety, while another views it as a harmless rush. If a circumstance is received as threatening to the mindset, the function of physiology has a primary reaction. Adrenaline is released, along with a burst of energy within the body.
After the amygdala has received the signals of alert, “fight, flight or freeze” initiates. The body either prepares to defend the danger, run in the opposite direction, or freeze in a state of shock.
While watching a scary movie, some have the ability to assure the mind that the cinema is unrealistic.
“For some people it’s a release of control, where they know they’re safe at Knott’s Scary Farm, safe watching a scary movie, so they get to have that crazy adrenaline rush, knowing they’re safe. Even though they’re getting scared, they don’t care,” said AP psychology teacher, Katherine Boggio.
Despite the division of projected screens and theater seats, a mindset can be convinced of a threat because of Mirror Neurons. These neurons are cells in the amygdala that mirror an action as a feeling, one can read from the American Psychological Association. Developing a belief that the cinema has the potential of causing harm.
Observation tools like seeing and hearing alert the amygdala, triggering adrenaline or “fight, flight, or freeze.” Different perceptions can convince the watcher whether they are watching the movie or psychologically in it.
“So when you’re watching the movie, you feel your heart racing. You get all that reaction. But when you panic, then you take it a step further. People who love scary movies label the excitement as safe, and fun but people who don’t see it as ’I’m going to have nightmares’ or ’Could this really happen to me?’” said Boggio.
The rush that fear gives is the part that draws thrill seekers back for more. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that comes from the mid-brain and the hypothalamus. Rubicon Recovery Center can explain how Dopamine is also associated with the pleasure and reward system within. This rush creates a happiness high and encourages the await of another scare.
¨I feel like over time people have become more desensitized to certain movies. They´ve been around for a while, so you have to start trying new things and trying to make it more scary so that people still get the same intensity factor,¨ said Justin Ashkar (12).
Each individual can perceive fear differently, depending on the threats from a point of view. Either enjoying the rush or fleeing from it, all labels differentiate and determine the thrill.
