A Guide for Building Psychological Resilience with Horror

This is a follow-up post to my recent one about how horror can cure anxiety. That post focused on how horror might help someone in the moment. This one will explain how being a horror fan might help you build psychological resilience.

Could watching horror movies or reading scary books could help you become more mentally resilient to stress and anxiety?

Maybe so. Here’s how.

Horror as Scary Play

Most juvenile mammals engage in rough-and-tumble play. Think of lion cubs wrestling or young monkeys chasing each other through trees. These seemingly meaningless behaviors aren’t just for fun: they’re also practice for survival. Through this type of play, young animals learn crucial motor skills, social cues, and strategies for dealing with real-life threats.

Humans aren’t any different. Our childhood games like hide-and-seek or tag often simulate dangerous scenarios in safe environments. Tag mimics being chased by a predator. Hide-and-seek simulates the tension of evading capture. These games provoke mild fear and suspense, allowing children to practice managing these emotions. The stakes are low, but the value of the lessons are high.

But humans are unique in one sense: we engage in cognitive play. When it comes to scary play, this takes the form of horror movies, true crime podcasts, or haunted house attractions. These experiences allow us to engage with fear and anxiety in controlled settings, giving us the chance to explore our emotional limits without real-world consequences.

Linking Horror to CBT and Exposure Therapy

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and exposure therapy are two of the most effective psychological treatments for anxiety-related disorders. Both approaches revolve around one key idea: confronting fear and discomfort. And what better medium for practicing this than horror?

CBT helps individuals recognize the connections between their thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. For someone dealing with anxiety, the mind often exaggerates threats, making manageable situations feel insurmountable. CBT teaches clients how to break these patterns by challenging maladaptive thoughts and replacing them with more realistic interpretations.

Exposure therapy takes this a step further. It’s all about facing fears head-on. This method is the gold standard for treating conditions such as specific phobias, panic disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Clients are gradually exposed to anxiety-provoking stimuli, either in real life or through imagination, with the goal of diminishing avoidance and fear responses over time.

So, where does horror come into play? Below are some examples of how horror can contribute to learning processes that are grounded in CBT and exposure therapy.

Here’s a conceptual figure to give you an overview before reading.