Watched an action movie, experienced increased symptoms

Okay this was hell of weird.

I carry huge amounts of tension in my shoulders, neck, and back. It's always there except for sometimes when I am asleep. It shoots numbness and pain down into my arms and hands, or perhaps they are co-morbidities, I can't say what is chicken and what is egg.

Yesterday I watched the new Breaking Bad movie on Netflix. It made me super tense and I actually experienced fascitulations, like a quivering shaking sensation in my shoulders.

Could my nervous system be so overloaded that even watching an over-stimulating movie is enough to run up my pain level?

 

Yes, absolutely. In the same way a sad movie can help you shed tears about personal hurts that have little to nothing to do with the story on screen. This is why stories are so powerfully healing. These days I favour novels (actual books) over anything else. All human experience is writ large there without the noise and unnecessary over-stimulation of contemporary movies. Give me “Brief Encounter” any day.

 

Yes, it’s because your sympathetic nervous system was activated by the movie. The same thing happened to me years ago when a friend made me watch The ABCs of Death.

 

Yes, and that is a huge positive that you noticed this reaction since it confirms TMS and if stressful movies can cause tension, it stands to reason “calming” media will help release it.