How do you overcome fear?

[thehotsung8701A]

As a child, I grew up in a ghost house and have seen my fair share of paranormal activities so to speak. Didn't help that I had a psychopathic sister that would also scare the pants off of me every chance she could get. Also didn't help that I sometime seen other entities with me when I see myself in the mirror. So my brain wasn't fully developed when all of this happen and now I wonder if it can be reverse?

Thing is I love scary games, there hasn't been any scary games that I didn't feel I got my money worth granted if only I could started or finished it. I love the narrative and story of horror games because it unlike a normal shooting or slashing games. I like having to conserve health, ammo, etc... instead of run and gun. I love stealth games and horror games to me is a type of stealth genre.

There are many good games I want to buy and get my hand on but I know I won't be able to start it and if I did I would turn it off the moment those creepy suspenseful music started playing.

So my question is for those who have fear of Horror games, how do you manage? How would someone overcome their fear?

 

[futurefields]

when you get scared, just keep playing

 

[tidy]

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[balloonshark]

I think there are two types of fear. Fear as in excitement and anticipation and there is fear as in anxiety and stress. If you're experiencing the latter two then it may be time to take a break and/or seek professional help. If it's the former then getting rid of it may dull the experience of the game/s and they will become boring. If the experience is fun then enjoy it while you can before you become jaded.

 

[justoh]

Buy and read this book: http://www.amazon.com/How-Think-About-Weird-Things/dp/007353577X

It should help with all things paranormal, unless you're actually insane (talking about ghost houses and seeing "entities" is a bit much - maybe you need medication of some sort).

Once/if cured, play "Dying light" or something. That's quite scary/suspenseful.

 

[PrincessFrosty]

First of all you need a grounding in reality that paranormal stuff is just a load of nonsense and there's actually no hard evidence for it at all, having a scientific world view grounded in reality is something everyone should have anyway, but especially helpful to understand that all this paranormal horror isn't actually real.

Past that I would say don't bother trying too hard to adjust, the whole point of scary games is to illicit fear, if you're not scared there's no point in playing. I've always struggled with scary games and movies because I immerse myself and suspend disbelief really easily which allows me to get drawn into stories. I used to avoid them a lot but at some point I kind of let go and embraced the adrenaline rush you get when scared, I don't know how I did that.

One thing I do is tend to play scary stuff for small amounts of time, a lot of horror games don't have great pacing and will keep some people permenantly on edge which is both profoundly exhausting but also it numbs the experience, you need a rollercoaster of feeling safe and then spiking your fear. Sometimes that just means saving and quitting and playing something else for a bit and coming back to it.

Oh btw if anyone wants a scary experience, try Alien Isolation in the Oculus Rift, that is some absolutely terrifying ****.

 

[tidy]

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[JumBie]

As a child, I grew up in a ghost house and have seen my fair share of paranormal activities so to speak. Didn't help that I had a psychopathic sister that would also scare the pants off of me every chance she could get. Also didn't help that I sometime seen other entities with me when I see myself in the mirror. So my brain wasn't fully developed when all of this happen and now I wonder if it can be reverse?

Thing is I love scary games, there hasn't been any scary games that I didn't feel I got my money worth granted if only I could started or finished it. I love the narrative and story of horror games because it unlike a normal shooting or slashing games. I like having to conserve health, ammo, etc... instead of run and gun. I love stealth games and horror games to me is a type of stealth genre.

There are many good games I want to buy and get my hand on but I know I won't be able to start it and if I did I would turn it off the moment those creepy suspenseful music started playing.

So my question is for those who have fear of Horror games, how do you manage? How would someone overcome their fear?

I just don't play them. I am a wuss, I get scared far too easily. I find myself getting far to immersed in horror games that I actually feel as if I am there. The anxiety really gets to me, so I figure its better if I just watch someone else play them.

 

[sam_816]

I would suggest playing coop games. Not particularly horror but any coop game with proper communicating team members.

Playing horror games to cure fear of horror games won't help imo. But if you know that there is someone with you and you can hear them that is a big confidence booster.

 

[Oyeve]

I love horror. Especially evil supernatural horror. That being said, the last game that actually made me want to turn on the lights was the first "Alone in the Dark" game on PC back in 1992. I was 26 at the time and living alone and played this game in the dark with headphones on. It was truly scary at the time. Looking back on it now its not so scary but for the time period it sent chills down my spine. The only game I purchased years ago and could never really play/finish was a game called "Bad Mojo". Nothing freaks me out more than roaches and playing one on screen was too freaky.

 

[ibex333]

when you get scared, just keep playing

Best advice!


It may seem counter-intuitive, stupid even... But it works.

I was too scared to play Deadspace, but I just pressed on... And I killed them all.

In Russia, there is an old proverb: "Eyes are scared, but hands do". Dont know if it makes sense in English, but basically, you are scared, but you do it anyway. Just start, just go for it, and it will happen.

The same goes for procrastination. It's a form of fear in a way. You are "afraid" to do something, because you know what is involved in doing it and you don't feel like doing all these things. You are "scared" to do them. Just "start" doing it, and the procrastination will melt away. Starting is the most difficult part.

 

[Dahak]

"I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.”

to paraphrase dune

Although I have not played to many "horror" games where I got afraid

 

[sxr7171]

I thought Alan Wake was pretty mild and has most of the mechanics of a survival game.

 

[Zanovar]

I kind of laugh at so called scary games/films. i will admit though the dead space games gave me a few jitters.

 

[ImpulsE69]

Games/movies do not scare me. Jump frights, yes, but I get that in real life too. Being focused, blocking out other things, will make you jumpier when unexpected things happen. I can be very jumpy lol. Adrenaline rushes are fun though.

I've never turned a game off because I was scared, stressed maybe, but I recall everyone talking about how they could only play Amnesia for 10 or so minutes at a time. I didn't get why. It didn't scare me, just stressed me out, but that is what most video games do.

 

[SlitheryDee]

The only thing I can't stand is jump scares. I usually just turn the volume down in segments of games that feature them.

 

[DigDog]

why is this thread in PC GAMING?
is OP trying to shadow-promote a new horror game?

i think the premise of "i see dead people" kinda invalidates anything you might say afterwards.

 

[shortylickens]

I use cheat codes. Too many good weapons and I hate to dump. Never did find a mod that lets you carry more.

 

[ImpulsE69]

why is this thread in PC GAMING?
is OP trying to shadow-promote a new horror game?

i think the premise of "i see dead people" kinda invalidates anything you might say afterwards.

I figured it was stemmed off my post in the Steam sale thread..but who knows.

 

[futurefields]

ugh when the regenerating necromorph is coming after you the first time you play Dead Space

 

[balloonshark]

First of all you need a grounding in reality that paranormal stuff is just a load of nonsense and there's actually no hard evidence for it at all, having a scientific world view grounded in reality is something everyone should have anyway, but especially helpful to understand that all this paranormal horror isn't actually real. ~snip~

I've seen two instances in my lifetime that I can't explain. Both times I had witnesses. One of them involved what I believe to be ghosts. We were sitting in the middle of a civil war battleground next to a burial ground. The other was an flying object that was going one direction. It then stopped and immediately went in the other direction. In both cases the witnesses and I were a little shocked.

 

[thehotsung8701A]

I manage to play Dead Space 1 and 2 (not finished it yet) but I turn the music down to 0 while still keeping the voice and master sound at max. I also played in the daytime and not at night.

I can't seem to do this even for games like Metro 2033 because the atmosphere to me is far more scary than Dead Space. I do someday hope to be able to manage to play Silent Hill 1 and Fatal Frame 2 which is probably two of the scariest game ever made.

 

[SERPENTINE]

So my question is for those who have fear of Horror games, how do you manage? How would someone overcome their fear?

Well, when I played Alien Isolation...
I pressed the power button to overcome my fear.

 

[logicweb]

As a child, I grew up in a ghost house and have seen my fair share of paranormal activities so to speak. Didn't help that I had a psychopathic sister that would also scare the pants off of me every chance she could get. Also didn't help that I sometime seen other entities with me when I see myself in the mirror. So my brain wasn't fully developed when all of this happen and now I wonder if it can be reverse?

Thing is I love scary games, there hasn't been any scary games that I didn't feel I got my money worth granted if only I could started or finished it. I love the narrative and story of horror games because it unlike a normal shooting or slashing games. I like having to conserve health, ammo, etc... instead of run and gun. I love stealth games and horror games to me is a type of stealth genre.

There are many good games I want to buy and get my hand on but I know I won't be able to start it and if I did I would turn it off the moment those creepy suspenseful music started playing.

So my question is for those who have fear of Horror games, how do you manage? How would someone overcome their fear?

The best way to fight fear is facing it if you afraid of horror games just play it and say it in your mind "It's just a game".