I have a problem. It is kind of ridiculous, but maybe someone can really give me some advice!!
Apparently I can't read or watch anything remotely suspenseful, intense or scary. I was reminded of this again last weekend. I was watching part of a Masterpiece Theater show called Daniel Deronda (rated PG). Masterpiece Theater, people. It wasn't scary, just really intense. I got so engrossed in the show that when it was time for me to go to sleep, I couldn't. I was so high strung that it seriously took me hours to fall asleep, and then I tossed and turned all night.
This isn't new. I tend to get so wrapped up in what I'm reading/watching that I lose sense of reality. I feel the emotions of the characters acutely. Sometimes I feel like things actually happened to me and the sadness, anger, fear, etc. feels like my own. I cry and laugh out loud a lot while reading books. To give you a taste of what I mean, I'll give you some examples. I close my eyes the entire time of Terror Ride at Lagoon or Haunted Mansion at Disneyland. I conveniently take a bathroom break during parts of Pirates of the Caribbean and Muppets' Christmas Carol. My freshman year of college, the institute was showing Watcher in the Woods (Disney, PG) for Halloween and I could not watch it. I didn't want anyone to know I was scared, so I looked at something next to the screen and thought happy thoughts the whole time! Oh and last time I watched a movie that was really meant to be scary was The Sixth Sense. I was a teenager and the night after I watched it, I begged my mom to sleep with me in the family room. I had nightmares for years--seriously, years. It's really kind of embarrassing. I can't watch exciting movies like National Treasure before bed or I won't sleep. I read and loved The Hobbit, but when I tried to read the rest of the Lord of the Rings series, I couldn't get past the first few chapters because I was already too scared. Hunger Games gave me nightmares. I made my husband read parts of Harry Potter #6 out loud to me in the daylight because I couldn't do it.
So do I just give up on reading or watching anything intense? What am I supposed to do? Is anyone else like this??
