Playing scary games to become harder to frighten

[dreckish]

Will playing games I find scary, make me harder to scare on a general basis? Could playing Doom 3, FEAR, Amnesia etc, make me less frightened in real life?

 

 

I'm trying to always push my boundaries, and have recently found out that I should try to become harder to scare, less afraid of the dark etc.

 

 

I'm guessing at a bare minimum that I would at least get less scared, playing games with similar themes. (Able to spot patterns)

 

 

 

What's your opinion on this?

[DirTek]

That might only make you more paranoic in my opinion...

 

But it depends on the person....for me...growing up was enough to get rid of the fear of the dark.

 

Bottom-line...I don't really think that playing scary games would help you....but hey....you can't really know until you try :)

 

Cheers :thumbsup:

 

DirTek

[Genzel]

I can't see a reason not to at least try. Who knows, it might work. Either way you will have fun playing the games, especially if they will actually be scary.

[Vindekarr]

Firstly, Kudos to you for your attitude, the best way to grow is to constantly push yourself, push your boundaries, and challenge what you are capable of.

 

Secondly, Maafia is right, it's dependant heavily on the person.

 

When I was a kid I was absolutely petrified of all arachnids: spiders, scorpions, harvestman, you name it, I was so scared of them I would become paralysed by it.

 

Now? well I've had spiders as pets and loved them, and handled mighty tarantulas bare handed (though that stunt proved highly unwise, Tarantulas are gentle creatures, but their feet have scythe like claw-hooks for climbing/digging/gripping that they cant retract, ouchies.)

 

What made the diference was knowledge. One day, after a Hunstman Spider climbed out of my coat, ran down my arm, across the wall, and out the window at blinding speed, almost causing my to faint, I decided enough was enough. I went to the library and studied spiders, I learnt what spiders I would encounter where I live, and how to recognise them, I learned which were dangerous, and which were beneficial, and after a few weeks, the results were that I KNEW now what i was looking at, what it's capabilities were, and what it would likely try and do if I got closer.

 

Tarantulas had once been my worst nightmare, when I was overseas I actualy looked after a pair for a while, and that swayed me heavily, beautiful graceful creatures, Tarantulas are in my opinion, a little bit like the spider equivalent of a python. They look huge, dangerous, and beastly, and some of them can be a foot across, but they're very gentle creatures, they're also ambush predators, rather than stalkers, which means they dont charge or jump around, which makes them easier to handle, emotionaly.

 

http://i1228.photobucket.com/albums/ee454/Vindekarr/799px-Brazilian_Salmon_Pink_Birdeater.jpg <thanks to the Cincinati zoo for this spectacular image, these were once my greatest fear, knowledge has proven them instead to be another thing in nature to appreciate.

Edited March 10, 2011 by Vindekarr

[dreckish]

Thanks for the replies! I myself used to be really afraid of spiders. Then one summer 2 years ago, I had to work on the terrace. I think I encountered about 5-10 spiders every day, I worked. This somehow removed most of my fear of them, although. I could've pushed myself even further. And learn about them. As they still scare me quite a bit. At least I got a new approach than running. I smash them with my bare hands if necessary (no other usable items anywhere close)

 

Anyways, I want to push myself. And think scary games and movies is a good place to start. I should probably look into spiders as well.

[Netwit2008]

I agree with Maafia too, it does depend on the person, but as Vindekarr says, you have a great attitude about the issue, and that is truly half the battle.

 

As a child I was petrified of the dark (spiders too, lol) I became immersed in all things horror. Stories, movies, games, even writing short horror stories myself. Now, for the most part, I'm not that scared of the dark unless something causes it like an unexplained noise or movement. But I know now that my fascination with the horror genre was a result of my need to gain mastery over my feelings of being scared of the dark.

 

This works much like someone who has had a funky childhood with fractured or painful relationships with their parents/primary caregivers. They end up as adults getting into one dysfunctional relationship after another. They too, are trying to re-do the past in an attempt to gain mastery over feelings of helplessness, low self worth, loss of control and lack of healthy boundaries.

 

As a mental health treatment modality, what you are considering is called "desensitization," meaning you expose yourself to the offending feeling, behavior, issue, etc. until you no longer feel the same emotional intensity towards it. So yeah, I think you have a good idea to expose yourself to things that might scare you, through playing scary games. There is always the chance it will make you more scared, but you have a goal in mind and know what your desired outcome is, so you have a good shot at it. Good luck, I think you will succeed! :thumbsup:

[ita]

I advise the OP to play Dead Space. After you've played for a while and seen the Nth enemy suddenly popping out from a ventilation shaft, you won't be as easily startled by things that jump at you, flail their arms and scream "uggabuggaloo!!"

[Thor.]

Don't get me started with spiders, Daddy long legs creep me out the most, once walking in the woods up a steep incline i stepped on a nest of daddy long legs and they started swarming around me and i swear i had a few crawl up my legshttp://www.thenexusforums.com/public/style_emoticons/dark/woot.gif There was hundred of them all up the hill. It was like the hill was moving alive.

 

anyways meh in games spiders don't bother me, even in real life they don't but just that one kind creep me out the most.

Edited March 10, 2011 by Thor.

[Naktis]

Wow that spider looks awesome! So big and cute! :happy: Hehe I love spiders. :laugh: And back to the topic I agree with Maafia it depends on the person.

[Vindekarr]

Wow that spider looks awesome! So big and cute! :happy: Hehe I love spiders. :laugh: And back to the topic I agree with Maafia it depends on the person.

 

Big doesnt even begin to describe it, that's a Salmon Pink Bird Eater, they can grow to the size of a car's steering wheel/a dinner plate, and weigh a hundred or more grams, excluding "breeds" of spider that have been selectively created as exotic pets, they're the third biggest naturaly evolved spider in the world by size and #2 by weight, yet gentle enough, and with their extraordinary longevity(20+ years usualy for females) that a handful of incredibly rich arachnophiles keep them as pets. Though unless you're the sort who also has a pet tiger, they're not an advisable choice, as their shear size means they eat a LOT, and need a big terranium, and can easily cost more than USD $2500 a month to keep. (so big they eat live mice)

 

My favorite species of spider is actualy the Daddy Long Legs, there's probably 10 of them or so in my house right now, and they, along with good hygene, mean that I havent seen vermin or pests inside for 6 years, spdiers may be spooky, and some are a bit scary because they're fast, but most are very good to have around, as they're incredibly effective pest control-they eat what we dont like, Jumping Spiders like to snap fruitflies from the sky, Huntsmens like the crunch of moths, Wolf Spiders think roaches are yummy, and Daddy Long Legs like to omnomnom upon Black Widows.

 

And besides, they're remarkable creatures, science has shown time and time again they're incredibly intelligent for their size, NASA took a pair into space on SkyLab, and within half and hour tey'd worked out how to spin webs and move around in zero gravity, and even refined their hunting techniques. It's their brain you see, brain to body size, is equivalent to us having a brain the size of a large watermelon.

 

http://i1228.photobucket.com/albums/ee454/Vindekarr/800px-Spider_internal_anatomy-en_svg.png