How movies affect my mental health

The heading of this blog is a bit mysterious, after all Movies and mental health arent mutually exclusive, or necessarily even associated in any normal sense. But for me they are hand in hand in my ongoing struggle to live with one and enjoy the other, which is which is also interchangeable.

Firstly the main reason I enjoy going to the cinema is that its pure escapism, well usually, I have seen some thoroughly depressing films which felt like a very heavy therapy session, The Road being the worst culprit. As with any mental condition the internal world is prominent in everything I do, and anything that can relieve me of this even for short while is to be applauded and most movies do this in spades. thats not to say I enjoy every film I see and that I shut off the critical part of my mind when I’m in the cinema, its just a more productive exercise to watch a film and tear shreds out of the dialogue or cinematography. When I was in therapy we did some exercises in mindfulness, where we entered a state much the same as meditation, I struggled with this as I couldnt shut out the thoughts and feelings because the silence was a void that had to be filled, in my mind anyway. But at the cinema, when I am waiting for the previews to start I find that I do shut down, my awareness seems to drift away for the period of the advertisments and I get that peace that is so elusive in the rest of my time.

This alone would be reason enough to go to the cinema but it has other positive effects. I get to go with friends and chat about the films as we drive home, indeed the main thing I get from the films is topics of discussion with others, It also gets me into a different mind set and thats always a welcome thing, I enjoy the whole ambience of the cinema, the foyer with its heady smells of popcorn and hotdogs, the seating, lighting and feel of the theatre itself , the whispered conversations during the previews and then the hushed silence when the screen springs into life, usually anyway, there are always those who refuse to follow the conventions of cinema going, but even that is part of the experience and on occasion its ok. just sitting in the dark, ostensibly on your own, is enjoyable and therapeutic.

In answer to the question in the heading of this blog I guess its a case of escapism, of provoking thought and allowing me be somewhere else for a while, a break from the norm and thats a pretty sweet deal when the norm is so bloody awful.