Do you get stressed watching movies?

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If I have something I'm doing at the same time as watching (reading, drawing, computer), then I'm okay. If I have to sit there and watch the movie, then I get stressed out.

I don't get stressed watching movies because watching movies is one of my ways of relaxing, and is also a self-therapy for me, since it gets me out of the real world for an hour or two and so I climb into this movie and leave all of my anxieties and problems behind. This is why getting into my bed and watching a movie is more better, especially at night time, because my mind can focus more on the movie, and I can get myself to think that I have actually ''climbed into the telle''.

I only get stressed about watching a new movie. Old movies are relaxing. It's mostly the plot (or lack of) that bothers me. It's always been like that. I don't seem to be able to understand what's going on until the movie is 3/4 over, then it's over when I start to get interested. Then I spend hours looking online to figure out what that movie was about. And I rarely get any of the jokes. I think I'm absolutely rubbish with this "figuring out people's intention" thing. Oh and if the movie is one of those artsy kind with vague plot and some twisted hidden meanings, then I'm doomed.

If the movie is really boring...yes. My mom and I went to see the new Captian America movie and I was bored out of my mind. I'm not saying it was bad, it just isn't my kind of movie. I was twirling my hair throughout most of the movie and my mom said I kept having to get up to use the bathroom. It's a little theatre that can only play one movie at a time and I thought Captian America was going to be cool.

Yes.

Dramas and violence and gore are mentally painful. The emotions the film is trying to cause are unpleasant and I will not intentionally abuse myself like that. Life has enough of that stuff--I don't need more.

Comedy is good.

Movies are fake, but our brains, and central nervous system don't know any better. Your fight or flight instincts are being activated to the point where the adrenaline is becoming uncomfortable for enough for you where you have to walk around to burn some of the excess energy that is being created in your body.

I enjoyed heavily stimulating stuff on TV, for many years until my stress response got burned out. One of the first signs I was burning out, was when the stimulation became uncomfortable instead of invigorating.

Another issue with TV and Autism, is it activates mirror neurons and can make one as socially anxious as they would be if they were in the real situation.

In a way it prepares us for life, but some of the stuff on TV is stuff you are never going to encounter in real life, like fighting zombies or getting involved in high speed police chases, so there is not much use in exposing yourself to it, unless you enjoy the adrenaline rush as many do.

Another point too, is even something funny like America's funniest home videos can be stressful because of all the excitement portrayed in it; even though it normally makes us feel good, if our general adaptation to the stress response is becoming compromised, even the stuff we perceive as good excitement can bring us a great deal of discomfort.

If this has just started happening to you, I suggest another type of TV show or recreational activity that doesn't make you want to pace, until the movies becomes comfortable to watch again.

It's really not a normal part of any animal nature to expose itself to continuous excitement of any kind for long periods of time, particularly sitting still. It's normally reserved for real life survival contigencies.

One final thing, noise and falling are the only instinctual fears that humans are born with; everything else is learned. If you use alot of surround sound during movies, turning that off and using regular volume, in itself, can reduce the stress response significantly.

Losing the ability to tolerate loud music one once enjoyed and found invigorating is another sign that one is losing their ability to tolerate stress. The flashing lights and alternate colors on HDTV that many people enjoy can also become painful when one loses their ability to tolerate stress.

Modern technology and marketing techniques provide a lot of stimulation to get human attention, but they also are a source of general physiological stress that may eventually have a cumulative negative impact on one's health.

I think I get bored in movies more than being stressed.
No matter how good the movie is, 2 freaking hours is just too long for me.
I just loose focus after an hour and never manage to catch up with the movie ever again.

I have the issue with porn, violence and gore.

Not really, no. I like to see a good movie and don't have problems sitting down to watch and follow them.

Seriously, you find Paranormal Activity 1 and 2 boring? I loved those movies! But I agree that 1408 and Zombieland were quite boring.

Only when there's like intense emotions / intimacy involved. Like really emotional kissing scenes with chemistry. I get really uneasy, and I have to pause and walk around most of the time.

Yes, I do. I've got so many DVDs waiting to be watched and I just can't be bothered watching any of them and haven't done so for many months now!

I do sometimes have an emotional reaction as if I'm in the situation portrayed on the screen. It's not just movies, though. I get it with TV programmes as well. Crime dramas mostly, since that's my favourite genre.

Yes, I do get stressed out because I can't keep my mind to focus on the one thing, it's always darting from one thing to another. After an hour or so I get very stressed just because I can't sit still, I don't have to walk around but my knee keeps jumping. I can't stand when anyone makes noise when I'm watching a movie except Harry Potter movies because I know a lot of the lines, not always word for word but a good bit of them. I couldn't list them off but as the movie progresses while it's happening I'd know the lines.

Movies don't stress me out at all. I like analysing them. Even bad movies. For example, I went out with a couple of friends to watch 2012 a couple of years ago, and we spent most of the time mocking the movie for its poor science, plot, and general everything. In good movies I can get very much caught up, to the point of crying. In bad movies I generally just analyse everything, from plot to specific actions and details (I also do this with good movies, but usually after watching).

I don't watch horror movies. I don't see why I would want to do that to myself. They scare me and I don't like them. Most of all, I'm afraid I'm going to try to recognise the villain in myself. This is also why I don't watch Dexter (the tv show). About the only horror film which interests me is the Saw series (specific punishments for specific sins, the complicated machine thing), but I do not watch them for the aforementioned reasons.

Hey! Thanks for the reply.

No, it's not a terribly new thing. It's been going on for awhile and is one reason why I avoid watching movies nowadays. Only sometimes, I start to think that it'd be fun to see a movie and I usually end up pausing all the time or pacing around, as I wrote. Perhaps I just need to learn that it doesn't work for me anymore. I get too involved when I watch movies and no amount of rationalizing helps, unfortunately. Even if I can break down exactly why something can't logically happen or that it'll all turn out okay, my brain doesn't seem to ever get the message.

I only really watch kid's movies nowadays and I can only really handle them on a normal volume setting. But it is an interesting thought to think my stress response has or is burning out. I think you might be right. Many of the things that I once found really exciting now only stress me out. I wonder why I'd be getting overloaded more easily than before.

Oh well, whatever the case, I'll slow things down some more and see if that doesn't help.

Not me. Instead, I tend to analyze it and ask a lot of questions about the movie, which annoys my mom and anyone else who is listening.

The reason you might be getting overloaded more now than before, is because stress of your experience is having a cumulative impact on your body and it is slowly wearing you down.

We get accommodated to large amounts of stress, but we are only human, our bodies can only deal with so much of it, until our bodies express discomfort to us to motivate us to make a change.

If you can imagine putting a cat in a cage and setting off fireworks near by, the cat would be afraid but would be unable to escape the situation. It makes us cringe when we think of someone doing that to a cat over and over, in effect torturing the cat; but we will do the same things to ourselves, like watching a scary movie and getting terrified, because it is the socially acceptable and sometimes expected thing to do.

When you pace, your body is telling you to escape the situation. Human beings have learned to ignore and repress the signals their body gives them.

If the cat was allowed to escape the cage, the cat would avoid the cage at all costs. It sounds like that is what you are doing now, it should give your body time to rest and recover.

There are some people in the world that have a nervous system that seeks excitement, but there are some with a nervous system that excitement quickly wears down. Normally an autistic person is in the second category, but it is not always the case.

The scientific explanation of what goes on here is expressed best, I think by Hans selyes theory of general adapatation to stress. The parallels to what you have experienced are relative. Most of what I am saying here is based on the theory, and applicable to people that have been in combat like situations or continuous abusive situations. Our brains and central nervous system react the same to stimulating situations on TV, while some become desensitized to it, others don't.

Here is an excerpt from Wiki. The whole article provides good information on an understanding of the physiology that is behind the effects of stress you are experiencing.

You seem like you are on the correct path to protect your long term health. The information in the article may provide reassurance to you that you are taking the best approach to deal with general stress in your life.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stress_(biology)#General_Adaptation_Syndrome