Watching films like ‘Contagion’ is healthier than watching the news, explains psychologist

With the coronavirus pandemic strengthening its hold around the globe, many film enthusiasts cannot help but connect this catastrophic reality to the film Contagion, released in 2011.

And while the thriller with its uncanny resemblance to our reality today, has seen a recent surge in popularity, many other titles with more or less the same stories have also become high-in-demand.

The 1995-released film Outbreak and 12 Monkeys released in the same year narrate the same spread of a disease that wipes out half of the planet.

But after all this, the question that comes to surface is why the world is resorting towards films that depict a situation similar to the one we have been stuck in since the past few months.

Dr. Pamela Rutledge, director of the Media Psychology Research Center during an interview with Insider revealed that watching thrillers such as these, is healthier than watching the news.

"It makes us feel we're not alone, and there's a resolution to these stories so we can express our anxiety that way. Whether it's zombie movies or 'Contagion,' any thriller ramps up a lot of anxiety and fear that then gets resolved by the end."

"Movies are now that steady presence for us. There’s closure,” she said.

"There's research on the impact of quarantine, there's research on the impact of a society-wide crisis, but there's no research on a pandemic outside of the Spanish flu.”

“We don't understand what all these factors mean together but the intersection makes it pretty clear what we are facing is a level of trauma,” she went on to say.

She further said that meeting with friends over Zoom or watching films and TV shows is a great way to cope with the mental stress because "for the human brain, seeing eyes and expressions allow us to experience interaction as if they were face to face."

She also suggests decreasing the intake of news: “I would much rather have people watching 'Contagion' and Netflix all day long than watching the news.”