Violent movies / stress / aggression

[novakf]

This might seem like a weird question but has anyone had an attack triggered by (or worsened by) any of the following circumstances?

1) Watching a violent movie
2) Someone being aggressive in a public place
3) Friends or family having arguments

I think I might just be crazy but I had an attack/exacerbation that started while I was watching Watchmen a couple of months ago, a twitch in my chin, although I think it had been coming on beforehand I feel like it was definitely triggered by watching the film.

Then it was worsened when I was in the car with my mum and sister who were having a MILD argument.

And then it was worsened I was on the bus with a guy who was being aggressive towards some old ladies because they were taking a long time to get on the bus. :(

After that (I was on a course of oral steroids) the symptom went away gradually.

Then last week when I was on a peak hour train and some guy was getting shirty about there being barely any room for him to get on, it came back for 5 minutes. The train was also hot and I was standing.

But last night I watched The Baader-Meinhof Complex and since then I've had the symptom again.

The weird thing is that I enjoy some violent movies. Not so much gratuitous violence like in Watchmen, but I thought the Baader-Meinhof Complex was a pretty good movie actually. So I am not sure what it is about. I seem to have a ridiculous reaction to aggression. I'm guessing that is an issue I will need to deal with with my shrink, but I was curious if anyone else has any other strange triggers/reactions like this?

Also do other people have warning signs like cobwebby, creeping or crawling feelings, goosebumps or chills before they manifest a symptom? I'm guessing this is probably specific to my symptoms (weird sensations on my facial nerves and then a twitch starts up) but I was just wondering if anyone had experienced anything similar.

Also, anyone else had a twitching chin? My neuro was pretty weirded out by that one. My bottom lip kind of goes up and down involuntarily because of a contracting muscle in my chin. It is a very unusual form of facial myokymia, the neuro thinks.

[MsWobbles]

I, too, was terrified of the flying monkeys.  I also fast-forwarded when Bambi's mother was about to be shot.  My son teases me that I have to have "the happy ending."

WAF

[Lulu54]

Wow!  That research may pay off for a lot of us who wonder why we have the reactions we do to seemingly benign events.  Thanks for sharing what you found with us.

As WAF advises , I too avoid stresses and always leave the room during the Flying Monkeys scene in the Wizard of Oz.  I've been that way since a little child.

be well,
Lulu

[MsWobbles]

Like Karen99, I get the feeling of increased weakness, of feeling like I'm going to collapse, with stressful incidents. Also numbness. So, like Karen99, I simply try to avoid known stressors.  I will not go to see any violent or cruel movies.  I avoid people I don't like.  Of course, living with a bipolar teenager guarantees unavoidable conflict/stress, but I'm always looking for new techniques on how to decrease that.  

I think our media and culture have become all too hostile, often disrespectful of others' feelings, and drawn to conflict, hostility, and suffering.   Maybe turning more to your own higher power or becoming a Buddhist would help?

Anyway, seek whatever inspires peace in you.  Seek kindness.  Boycott cruelty and violence, whether verbal or physical, whether in films, books, or hostile individuals.  
And take frequent naps!!

WAF

[novakf]

I have been thinking the last week or so, and I came to several conclusions.

1) My stress response to violence in films and other media is not a traditional panic or anxiety response, no increase in pulserate, reflexes or anything else happens before my chin starts to twitch or spasm. So I'm not even sure that adrenalin is involved. I am pretty familiar with the symptoms of anxiety and this doesn't seem at all typical.

2) Violent content is most definitely a trigger for my twitch or spasm, sometimes I don't even consciously realise that i'm reading/watching triggering content before it starts to happen. For instance, I was reading a news story about a war and my chin started going, even though I was reading the article for work and was not emotionally invested when I started reading. It's not something I'm imagining. The twitch appears as an instantaneous response.

So I did some research, and found out two things (direct quotes):

1) Stimulus-sensitive myoclonus is triggered by a variety of external events, including noise, movement, and light. Surprise may increase the sensitivity of the patient.

2) Studies suggest that several locations in the brain are involved in myoclonus. One such location, for example, is in the brainstem region close to structures that are responsible for the startle response, an automatic reaction to an unexpected stimulus involving rapid muscle contraction.

And I also read that the startle response is often measured on brain wave scans as the P300 brain wave - triggered by novelty/surprise, and emotion, which is also stimulated when people VIEW VIOLENT IMAGES.

So there's at least a possibility i'm not imagining this!

Can I just say, neurology is very interesting. I just wish it wasn't being interesting in ME.

Sources:

http:// www.bcm.edu/neurology/patient_education/pdcmdc/myoclonus.html
http:// www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=7719

[novakf]

A quick reply because I'm on a public computer. Thanks for your replies, I definitely appreciate it!

First of all, I have a pre-existing anxiety disorder that I've had all my life, so what you say about twitches makes sense in that regard.

I should have mentioned though that although the twitch started when I was in a state of anxiety, it continued for ten days whether I was anxious or not. Also, for 5 days prior to the twitch starting, I had a tingling sensation in my bottom lip for several hours a day. When the twitch was stopping, I could feel tingling in the nerves in my face that seemed to build up during the times that the chin was stationary and then stopped when it began moving. For those reasons I do think it was a true exacerbation, because my nerve was clearly inflamed, and still is, all the time (I've had facial tingling ever since) whether or not I'm anxious. Also it makes sense to me that if my nerves are already inflamed or irritated, that my response to that would increase during an adrenalin rush or state of heightened anxiety. So my question was more to do with WORSENING symptoms due to temporary anxiety rather than symptoms being specifically caused by temporary anxiety. Does that makes sense?

[Quixotic1]

My best guess is that your twitching is a reaction to anxiety, but is definitely NOT an exacerbation.  It's well known in medicine that anxiety can show up as a tic or twitch often in the same place in any person predisposed to twitches or tics.   The face is the area most likely to have a nervous tic or anxiety twitch. I doubt that any neurologist would declare a relapse for a twitch like you describe.  What you had is a stres-reaction that ccould be seen in any person, with or without MS.  What I do believe is that the MS likely predisposed that area, your chin, to react to the anxiety.

This raises the question of why it isn't a relapse when it is a "new symptom" that lasted more than 24 hours.  Remember that a relapse is due to a renewed immune inflammatory attack on the nervous system.  What you are describing is not long enough for inflammation to actually damage the myelin of the group of nerves that handle the muscles of your chin.  Your reaction is too instantaneous.  It is more consistent with the appearance of adrenaline in your system and your body reacting to that.  

It sounds like you do have a heightened state of anxious arrousal.  I'll bet that when your chin is twitching, your reflexes are also quick brisk and you are easily started.  It seems that you (and lots of others) like the stimulation of adrenaline that you get from watching suspenseful movies and such.  However, you might discuss this with your psych.  It is best when the person is not in the state of arrousal all the time.  So, it might be good if you developed some relaxation routines like meditation, breathing techniques, etc., so that you are less "ready to twitch" all the time but can still enjoy the pasttime of watching thrillers.

True exacerbations, though, can definitely appear in response to stress.  The critical point is that the person's reaction to the stress be prolonged.  In other words, when they attempted to study the effect of stress on a large group of MSers, the only constant that they could find in causing the relapse was that the stressor caused an ongoing reaction.

To All:  Stress is a very nonspecific term for something that forces us to change or adapt.  Stress is always used as if it was a bad thing, but good happenings in our lives can also stressors.  The reaction to stress may be anger, frustrastion, sadness, happiness or even no reaction at all.

A long time ago there was a well-publicized list of stressors that were most likely to put the person at risk for serious illness.  I no longer remember the exact things on the list, but I remember that some of the biggest stressors:

Losing a child
Divorce
Moving
Marriage
Having a child
New job
Death of a loved one
New boss
etc.

What the study showed, though, with regard to stress, is the critical thing is not how big, bad or good the stress is, it is how long we are psychologically affected by it.  Stress-reactions that go on a few days or so are not likely to precipitate a relapse, whereas a reaction that lasts a week or more is more likely to cause a relapse.

Just getting frightened and anxious about a movie or a family squabble would only be likely to cause an exacerbation if  you were still upset or worried about it a week or two later.  In that case you may be describing a true anxiety disorder.

Quix

[Karen99]

Looking back many years ago, before any other MS symptoms appeared, I noticed a change in my reaction to stress.  It's etched in my memory, when I walked out of a movie.  Not because it was boring.  It was relentless in causing stress and my nervous system was not dealing well with it.  At that time, I chalked it up to being "burned out" on stress.  

Now if I find myself in any emotionally charged situation I either simply leave if possible  or become aggressive myself.  Not in a violent manner, I just bottom line the situation quickly.  Seems I have become intolerant of any drama or trivial nonsense.  At times I probably take this stance too far, but I find it self-protective.

On the few occasions that I have not been able to avoid highly stressful situations and can't leave, I can deal with the situation but I feel like I'm going to collapse later and have to take a nap.  Most of the time I feel strong physically and mentally, but there are emotional events that send me to bed for a rest or nap feeling fragile.  

And yes, I get what I call the he-be-je-bies just thinking about or experiencing certain situations. Kind of a skin-crawling sensation that makes me try to literally shake it off. Other times I get the feeling of having the chills, without being cold, and shake a little just like one would do if they had a fever.  So I go and find my pillow and blankie for a short period and recover.  

I was wondering, if you put pressure to your chin, does it slow or stop the twitching?  

    

[Lulu54]

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