It is that time of the year, holiday season, winters, along with a little bit of gloominess attached to it, in medical terms, SAD, or Seasonal Effective Disorder. Things won’t be the same this year; nothing has been the same this year since the beginning. And the abnormality of the surroundings is too hard for a human mind to ignore, mostly when there were significant changes to be made in one’s lifestyle. This lifestyle may become permanent as the second wave of Covid is coming soon.
The pandemic hit everyone on a different note. Those who were already suffering suffered way more and those who were doing fine so far had a breaking point as the year is coming to a close. Are we close to an end on this disaster of a disease? No, but we need a solution to cope with it, and fast because there is months’ worth of damage that needs fixing. Solution? Movie Therapy!
Originally knows as Cinema Therapy, an actual form of therapy proven to work on your mental well being better than anything else. But in current circumstances, things have altered majorly due to the closure of Cinema Halls across the world. But thanks to numerous online video streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, etc. I can easily access movies of all genres on my laptop. Or if I want to go old-school and watch Disney Plus on my Smart TV to have a larger-than-life streaming experience, we can easily do that too.
Birgit Wolz, PhD., MFT, who facilitates cinema therapy groups, says:
Cinema therapy can be a powerful catalyst for healing and growth for anybody who is open to learning how movies affect us and watching certain films with conscious awareness. Cinema therapy allows us to use the effect of imagery, plot, music, etc. in films on our psyche for insight, inspiration, emotional release or relief, and natural change.
Therapists typically prescribe cinema Therapy or Movie Therapy, but it is self-administered since the world lives off of it. The movie industry is worth billions.
The power of movies lays way deep beyond the visibility of the human eye. It has the ability to bring revolution, make a difference in how people think about a thing. It is one of the best forms of advertisement and learning than most other mediums.
Movies change the way how human beings feel or think. It helps them cope up with huge losses and more. Usually, movies are a way to drive us away from reality into a supernatural world of fantasies and superheroes, where the good always trumps. The evil always sees an end and where everything will be okay. They provide an escape that an ordinary mind can not fathom in times of severe distress. Where hope seems like a far fetched entity, away from our reach, no matter how hard we try to grab it.
But with this far-fetched idea, reality also exists where your story is very relatable to the one shown on the screen. If you have experienced the loss of a loved one in the pandemic, these movies are the one that motivates you to grieve but emerge out of that grieve soon before it’s too late. Or if there is a past trauma that you can’t get over, there are numerous movies that will help you get through the pain, and after that, pain comes acceptance.
I remember strongly entertaining the idea of abandoning my old life, to embrace a rustic life away from my loved ones in a different part of the world. Then I came across “Into The Wild,” which completely changed the idea of happiness I had altogether. Just like that, movies have a substantial impact on us. Watching movies can help us make sense of our lives in times when nothing seems to work for us.
Movies help release emotions buried in us for a long time or after a long stressful day when your inner self is dying to make an appearance in the form of laughter or tears. Watching films help in that release of emotions. It breaks our usual boring routine and soon becomes the highlight of the day with the joy and pleasure it brought along with lessons to ponder upon.
Movie therapy has been a source of relief for most people, as streaming services saw a rise in subscriber count soon after a worldwide lockdown came into action earlier this year. This may be the only reason we have made it this far. But with “Winter Blues” initiating, we may have to buckle up tighter as things get cold.
