Every Halloween my wife insists on decorating the front of our house in the most terrifying manner possible hoping to scare every child that dare comes to our house looking for a piece of candy.  This year she’s even gone so far as to create a pulley system so a giant spider comes down on people as we open the door…watch out neighborhood trick or treaters.  (I’m assuming most of them read this blog obsessively.  LOL)

My wife absolutely LOVES being scared, and I’m convinced she believes little kids enjoy being scared just as much as she does.  Who knows?  Maybe they do.  But, why do some people like being scared more than others?  The answer has to do with learned fear stimuli as well as the release of a chemical in the brain known as Dopamine.

This 90 second video provides a quick overview around this crazy phenomenon of enjoying being scared.  Have a safe and Happy Halloween!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4iNTjTqMvc

Mark is a mental health professional who has worked in the EAP field since 2004.  During this time, he has provided telephonic crisis counseling, workplace consultations regarding behavioral risk issues, trainings on various work-life topics, and account management services.