I'm glad reading helped you cope with your childhood. Sounds as if you have a good plan for the present and future. There are definitely more pleasant entertainments in other genres..

I've always wondered if the horror/fear genre had a use other than entertainment.

@pixiedust Therapists use desensitizing techniques for many types of phobia. Gradual exposure to the source of the fear, along with reinforcements when the patient doesn't exhibit fear reactions, can help the patient learn to control their phobia and eventually unlearn it. For example, I hate snakes. So I would be taken to the zoo's reptile houses, have longer exposure to the snakes, eventually even handle them, until I overcame my fear... that is, if my fear of snakes interfered with my daily life to the point that I needed this therapy.

Maybe horror films could work the same way to treat PTSD, gradually desensitizing patients to shocks and scary moments. After all, there are plenty of things jumping out on the screen at unexpected moments, plenty of stressful situations... but it bears no resemblance to the real life situation that brought on the PTSD.

On the one hand, here's someone who says scary movies helped him get over the trauma of a house fire... [vice.com] and on the other, a psychiatrist says they can actually cause it. [ottawacitizen.com] So I guess it's inconclusive?

@Paul4747 Maybe some definitive studies need to be done before we can say for sure. Thank you for the links.

I has heard about desensitization therapy and used it, years ago, to overcome my fear of spiders - no therapist.