ArticlePsychology research and behavior management2025
Fear-Pleasure Paradox in Recreational Fear: Neural Correlates and Therapeutic Potential in Depression.
Article in Psychology research and behavior management, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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Abstract
Background: Recreational fear, voluntary exposure to frightening stimuli in safe contexts (eg, horror films), elicits both distress and pleasure. Although paradoxical enjoyment of fear has been documented in healthy populations, its neural and psychological mechanisms, and potential therapeutic value for depression, remain unclear. Methods: In a mixed-methods design, Study 1 ( Results: An inverted-U-shaped curve linked fear intensity to enjoyment, with depression severity significantly moderating this relationship ( Conclusion: Controlled recreational fear may transiently engage emotion-regulatory networks and modify maladaptive connectivity patterns in depression, offering a novel adjunctive strategy. These findings are preliminary and correlational; future studies should examine causal effects and long-term clinical impact.
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