Why Halloween is so popular and how it affects the psyche

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Psychologists talk about why dressing up as evil can be beneficial and how creepy costumes help curb your dark side.

How dark holidays affect the psyche

They try to ban the celebration of Halloween every year. This year, the State Duma proposed to impose a taboo on the celebration of Halloween in schools and kindergartens. The deputies consider it unacceptable from the educational and moral point of view.

Psychologists, on the other hand, note that carnival costumes, even the most creepy ones, do no harm to the psyche. Dressing up for the occasion is an attempt to have fun. But opponents of the holiday perceive it as a protest, which must be protected from, which must be banned, said consultant psychologist Adriana Imzh. According to her, over the years people will get used to Halloween and the level of aggression will begin to subside.

Adriana Imzh consultant psychologist

You have to understand that serial killers, people with mental disorders, sectarians usually do evil without costumes and demonstrativeness. The good thing about Halloween makeup is that it can be applied and washed off.

It is an extreme, psychologist Oksana Istomina believes to completely close oneself from all these gloomy topics, which are in fact always nearby. When we completely reject everything dark in us, our latent negative aspirations can accumulate and burst out suddenly and uncontrollably. The other extreme is to completely surround yourself with gloomy attributes, to fill your space with only shadow.

Oksana Istomina psychologist, teacher of psychology classes at the Higher School of Economics

The balance is somewhere in between, and Halloween is a great way to maintain that balance.

Medical psychologist-consultant Maria Yelets notes that Halloween does not harm a person with a healthy psyche in any way. If a person already has mental spectrum disorders, then additional arousal, even with such controlled fear, can be harmful. But this is the sphere of work of psychiatrists.

Maria Yelets medical consultant psychologist

It's not about the holiday, but about the problems already existing in the psyche.

So there is no harm to a healthy psyche from Halloween. On the contrary, dressing up as evil spirits can be beneficial.

How are dark holidays good for?

Halloween is not the only holiday when people dress up in carnival costumes, including very scary ones, and behave a little recklessly. The dates on which any evil spirits freely roam the streets are on the calendar of almost every nation. For example, caroling on Christmas Eve has a lot more to do with Halloween than it seems. Children and adults alike dress up in costumes and go to neighbors for candy.

Adriana Imzh notes that the carnival is a place where some parts of oneself are released that are less appropriate in ordinary life. For example, in Spain it is normal for the whole family to dress up as Little Red Hats - both for dad and older brother. This helps them to better understand what it is like to be vulnerable, to be afraid of male strangers, to walk in bright and unusual clothes.

There are days of carnivals, food to death, dancing in almost all cultures just to let off steam, to be in a different role, to laugh a little at the rigors of everyday life.

Adriana Imzh consultant psychologist

According to Maria Yelets, for a long time people were characterized by the fear of unknown night darkness and what happens to a person after death. Their psyche drew various monsters that are hiding in the shadow of the night twilight. It could be ghosts, which people turn into after death, and vampires, who steal human life through blood, and many other products of human fears. And holidays such as Halloween give people the opportunity to laugh at the scary, throw off the shackles of mystery, turning themselves into something that scares.

Laughter helps relieve stress and negative emotions in a person. This is a way not only not to damage the psyche, but also to additionally help it gain control over its fears.

Maria Yelets medical consultant psychologist

Many gloomy topics in our society are strictly prohibited, says Oksana Istomina. It is not customary to talk about diseases, imperfections, troubles, fears, and even more so about death. All these topics are an integral part of our life. What we hide in the shadows is a part of our personality that usually does not appear outward. But sometimes it also needs to be released. Holidays like Halloween are perfect for doing this.

In a playful, non-destructive, form under our control, we scare and get scared, allowing this part of us to be lived and released, not to accumulate negative.

Oksana Istomina psychologist, teacher of psychology classes at the Higher School of Economics

So nothing wrong with those celebrating Halloween, most likely, will not happen. As soon as the first roosters cry, all evil spirits will turn into students, office workers and other respected citizens.

What costume have you prepared for your Halloween party?