Why Do People With Anxiety Love Halloween?

1. Play

Costumes, imagination, and stepping out of daily norms conjure the perfect potion for playfulness. Imaginative play has been linked to mental wellness, and can be a self-care strategy well into adulthood.

2. Nostalgia

For those who have celebrated Halloween throughout the years, it may evoke nostalgia for simpler times of ease. This may be particularly likely for those who developed anxiety in later years and especially so for those without childhood trauma.

3. Familiarity

Halloween prompts us to think about our fears. For folks who live with anxiety, they don’t need a day on the calendar for that reflection, their minds are often there. Repeated exposure can reduce the perceived threat, and may even summon a sense of ease.

4. Normalization

On a typical day, people who live with anxiety disorders are artfully balancing their thoughts, aiming to discriminate the fine line between reflection and rumination. In a world that generally sends the message that it is unacceptable to have emotions, much less to explore your deepest fears, people who live with anxiety tend to be isolated with their often obsessive inner dialogue. Yet, on Halloween, all things eerie rise from the darkness and the experience of being frightened is normalized.

5. Connection

Fear being normalized in spooky season creeks the door to connection open. Individuals who live with anxiety may feel an invitation to address the monsters under the bed. This may be an inward exploration, but it may also morph into an external form as well. Some may lean into metaphors and archetypes to connect with themselves and others through the portals of costume, décor, television, books, and movies

6. Empowerment

Many who live with an anxiety disorder experience struggles with the unknown. To some degree, Halloween offers a relatively controlled exposure to fear with safety being known. For example, when you choose to watch a scary movie, you expect to be frightened. The decision to spin through this may feel empowering, and that sense of accomplishment may also spill over into one’s perceived abilities to manage anxiety.

7. Preparation

Generally, those who were curious had greater resilience during the pandemic. With these findings in mind, exposure to scary movies, similar to the controlled encounter concept noted above, offers an opportunity to explore curiosity at minimum and offer simulations for real-life experiences at best.

Source: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/modern-mentality/202210/why-do-people-anxiety-love-halloween

What are your feelings about the Halloween season?

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