Anything related to horror, be it games or movies were always a strict no during our childhood because it used to scare the living hell out of us, and that definitely did not stop us from watching the movies or wanting to play one more level of the game. The cheap thrills that always came along with the horror movie or game without fail, always had our hearts beating wild and adrenaline coursing through us. While it may sound completely absurd on how on earth do horror games help in improving your health or is actually good for your health apart from probably giving you a heart attack? Horror games actually help in stimulating your brain which not only helps in keeping your brain active but it will make sure that when your brain is active, you are already on the right path to having better health and overall well-being. The only condition is that this only works if you are actually scared while you watch the film, and how scared do you feel throughout the whole film. This is because the more you scream in fear, the faster is your heart rate and you automatically need more oxygen in your body. 

So, what are the four reasons why horror games are actually good for your health and how they will actually benefit you?

  • Horror games help in improving your overall immunity.

A number of research studies show that when people tend to watch or play horror games, their body tends to produce more white blood cells which help in improving the immune system of the individual who is playing the horror game. As we know, white blood cells are blood cells which actually help in protecting our body from infections and various other diseases, including in helping to heal wounds as well. So, when there is an increase in the production of the white blood cells, our immunity increases. The scarier the game is, the faster our heart rate picks up and the healthier we tend to be as well. It may seem completely far fetched but these are actual studies that are done by researchers which have proved their point over and again as well.

  • Horror games also help in relieving us from the stress, and helps us improve our mood and how we feel.

During horror games, we are so invested in the game, we tend to be more into virtual reality more than the reality itself, so what we feel throughout the game, be it anything, we feel through every obstacle that we face or every time something randomly pops up in our path. Whenever this happens, or whenever we are scared or frightened, our body tends to produce a number of hormones in our brain, and these hormones also include dopamine, glutamate and serotonin which are known as the happy hormones which make us feel better and improves our mood and the way we feel. These hormones that flow through our body will help us in letting the stress we felt out, and it will also help in diverting our mind from the stress and the tension we felt previously. Horror games also help in releasing these chemicals which act as an adrenaline which is usually associated with fight or flight and is also known as the fight or flight hormone, but also plays a huge role in reducing the effects of depression and anxiety. Moreover, because of the fact that horror games cause stress in our body, when it comes to real life situations, it helps us in reducing and in the management of stress in a much better way and manner without making us act like headless turkeys.

  • Horror games help in overcoming our fears and coping with uncalled freaky situations.

The whole story plot is mostly based on thoughts and are extremely realistic in order for the audience to feel and actually make us scared of what is about to happen next, or by our next move. It makes the whole experience of playing a horror game more enjoyable and much more realistic. That also helps us in overcoming the fears we actually have in real life because this sort of tends to desensitize us and trains our psyche to react in a much better and more calculated manner. Horror games help us in getting over them and also warns or prevents us from doing the things which we would have not normally done under circumstances where we could think rationally, and gives us an insight on dangerous and potentially harmful behavioral tendencies. This also means horror games help us in gaining courage because it does take courage to actually face our fears or just face anything we find scary and actually fight it or even overcome it. It stops us from fleeing every single time and pushes us to fight and win against these fears.

  • Horror games help us lose weight. 

It may sound completely surreal, but it is true. Due to the way our body actually reacts whenever we play a horror game, we tend to burn the energy down because of the emotions we feel and this burns calories extremely fast. In order to lose weight, we need to have a calorie deficit which is exactly what a horror game provides to us. We tend to burn more than two hundred calories from playing a best horror video game, and the whole concept behind this is that because of the fact that the blood is pumped in our body at a faster pace, we tend to experience and feel a surge in our adrenaline levels. This results in a loss of appetite and also increases our metabolic rate.

So, now as you can see, these are the four reasons why horror games are actually good for your health, and help in improving your overall health conditions as well. But it would also be wise to remember that too much of something is also not too good for your health and keep this in mind as well.  

 

 

 

About the Author

Norman Gidney is a nearly lifelong horror fan. Beginning his love for the scare at the age of 5 by watching John Carpenter's Halloween, he set out on a quest to share his passion for all things spooky with the rest of the world.