Weird anxiety issue about watching movies at home.

Forums: First World Problem, Watching Movies At Home, Panic Attacks, Movies, Mental Health
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Yeah. I know it's not the worst problem in the world. And it's not all of the time. I have kind of struggled watching movies at home since the beginning of COVID/spring 2020.

Like today, I'm anxious while trying to watch The Eternals on Disney+ tonight. I'm going to have to stop tonight after watching only 20+ minutes. Trying and failing to enjoy it but absolutely am having a hard time focussing.

As you can see, I've gone to the movie theater 33 times last year. Yes. I've had several disappointing experiences last year at the movies and by the halfway point of the West Side Story reboot, I was getting a bit antsy. But I never got anxious. I may have been a little uncomfortable being ~ stuffy and mildly overheated wearing a facemask in the movie theater with poor AC but NEVER panic attack anxiety.

Words Bubble Up Like Soda Pop (2020) and The Mitchells vs the Machines (2021) were two great Netflix movies I didn't struggle watching thankfully. I guess I have to break up watching movies over the period of two to three days. It's frustrating and I guess I should address this the next time I have A VA appointment.

As I suspect, most people who know me on a2k and the real world, know me as a cinephile. I love movies. They are my raison d'etre.

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Type: Question • Score: 5 • Views: 1,543 • Replies: 6

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@tsarstepan,

I think a lot of us have felt trapped or hindered during this COVID era. Watching films at home probably distresses you because you miss the theater experience, at least that's my guess. Hopefully as time passes we can all resume doing the things we enjoy in the old fashioned way, they way we enjoyed.

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When I was a lot younger I went to a midnight screening 9f Midnight Run and somebody passed me a spliff.

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I find that it is too easy to give the movie less than my full attention at home. I can put the movie on hold to check my phone, get a snack, etc.

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@tsarstepan,

In the the times we live in, and some of you are way older then me (48) and knew well the "old" world pre web, to not have some sort of anxiety is almost a sign of emotional incompetence. Covid only added up to an already stressful reality.

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@tsarstepan,

Anxiety doesn't really vanish forever. It's just like any other feeling you have—sadness, happiness, frustration, anger, love, and so on. Just like you can't ever eliminate those emotions from your brain, you can't rid anxiety from your brain once and for all.

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@tsarstepan,

Maybe you could create an exclusive viewing experience. When we were children, we’d have to wait once a year—and be sitting, waiting for The Wizard of Oz. If we went to the bathroom, we missed important dialogue or plot twists in the TV show that we couldn’t even conceive of rewinding.

Now, we have a glut of movie channels that we can see whenever we want, zone out, rewind, etc.

‘The Moment’ or Occasion is lost.

Maybe a way to get that back is watch only two movies a week. Turn off your phone, turn off the lights, do a little research about the two movies you’ll see. Create a special ambiance for yourself.

I had to do something similar to protect my sleep hours.

Good luck.

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Weird anxiety issue about watching movies at home.

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