I watch some YouTube channels that narrate crime events while doing makeup, to some people this might sound weird but it’s actually very comforting because it feels as if it was a friend telling you something that happened while you eat or do your own makeup yourself.
But I’m starting to notice that listening to these terrible things happening makes me more wary around other people in situations where normally I wouldn’t be overthinking so much. I’m scared about making friends in uni because what if any of them ends up being dangerous people?
This also translates to dating, I stopped going on dates because I keep thinking I’ll end up meeting my future murderer or rapist.
I’m even scared to meet my friend group this summer, we are going to a holiday chalet to spend some days in that house. I obviously know nothing is going to happen but I have this small worry that “what if they’re just plotting to kill me in that house” I might sound like I’m crazy right now.
But I can’t keep thinking that these paranoid thoughts would have saved a lot of the people in those true crime cases.
Anyone with a similar experience or am I schizophrenic? 😂
Yes but worth it. Especially Bailey :)
If you are skilled enough everything makes you paranoid
(It depends on the show but some of them do for me)
I’m not a professional entomologist nor a lawyer, but I think you’ve given yourself trauma or you already had trauma and this has reopened some old wounds.
At the end of the day, this sort of stuff is sensationalized, as these types of things are all about making money and attaining some degree of fame for the people doing these “shows”. The crimes and perpetrators, while it seems as though there is a never ending supply of them, are actually statistical anomalies. There are 8+ billion people on Earth. Some number of those people have 6 fingers on their hands. If it were profitable enough and enough people were interested in the topic, you’d see thousands upon thousands of videos and shows about people with 6 fingers. By extension, after seeing enough of that content (you don’t even have to watch, just knowing it’s there is enough) your brain will actually start to think having 6 fingers on your hands is fairly common. You might even start paying a lot more attention to peopes’ hands, taking time to actually count their fingers just in case, or wondering how many 6 fingered people you’ve encountered over your lifetime without noticing. You might even convince yourself that you had a kid in your 2nd grade class who had 6 fingers or your hairdresser’s brother-in-law had six fingers.
I guess my point is, if this whole thing has gotten to the point where it’s actually affecting you in real life (ex: stopping going on dates), then it’s a problem. If you find that you can’t stop exposing yourself to this kind of content, I would advise you to seek professional help if you can.
I have not watched the makeup content, but I used to listen to true crime podcasts. As I have gotten older it has become impossible for me to listen to these though.
So often they will glorify the killers and try to humanize them. Then the victims are just regarded like pawns in their story.
After a while I really thought about what it would be like to be these victims and it made me sick. These aren’t scream queens in a horror movie where it is all made up just to scare you. These people went though hell and agony and that should not be used as “content.”
These were people’s kids, siblings, parents, grandparents, etc. They were loved and innocent and had their lives brutally taken away for no reason or fault of their own. The fact that they are treated as “tallies” or just numbers and names on a killers spree is beyond disrespectful. I can’t imagine seeing my family member that I loved being wrapped up in this content when it must already be so painful that they are gone.
Now I can’t listen to the true crime murder stuff. Sometimes I will listen to scary stories in the woods or something, but nothing where it is glorifying killing. It’s not good for my mental health.
Maybe that’s thing about podcasts because I’ve never seen the content creators glorify the killers. I think it’s because the Makeup + True crime content creators are women, we tend to be the victims of the cases regularly so it’s always narrated through the lives of the victims.
The comments are always full of shock and sympathy for the victims and also anecdotes. There’s a lot of complaining about the soft sentences for the criminals which are surprisingly commonly low.
Another common thing is criticism to the police for their ineptitude, in most of the cases they don’t it seriously.
It does not sound like true crime is for you from a mental and emotional health perspective.
It is honestly one of my guilty pleasures and I really do feel guilty. Sort of morbid that we are entertained by someone else’s death.
You’re right, I’ve thought about it before, why do I get so entertained with this? But tbh it’s because I put myself in the place of the victim and think about what would I have done different.
But there are some cases, specially those involving vulnerable individuals like kids that I can’t watch. And I’m a person who doesn’t like kids at all 😂
Personally I don’t get paranoid from it, but its also not my favourite genre. Feels kind of sensationalist.
It sounds like those type of shows aren’t healthy for you. It’s good to be aware of certain risks (don’t go wilderness hiking as a first date), but it’s not good to be afraid all the time and miss out on life and it’s experiences.
Perhaps switch to something neutral like movie commentary, or even better something positive like sort of good news-type of show instead.
Admittedly it has affected my decisions, but to a lesser extent and not towards the people I meet in daily life. My paranoia is more focused on what an unexpected intruder could do, so I have fortified the entry points to my house a bit more.
The thing is that it’s more likely that someone you know does something terrible to you than a stranger intruding your house… I know it’s sad but most crimes of rape and murder are done by family or friends.
I can only take so much true crime shit. I’ve listened to the Last Podcast on the Left, where the hosts do try putting dark comedic spins on some true crime stuff while getting into the gory details of certain subjects.
I’ve learned through that show though, that a lot of those people they covered, were broken beyond repair kind of people that otherwise should not have existed on this earth.
As a genre as a whole, I’m not too invested in it, one show is enough for me.
Yes, it makes you learn that some people are in fact born evil and start showing signs from a young age.
My wife watches a chick who does makeup and tells true crime shit. I thought it was just one lady’s gimmick. I didn’t realize it was a whole genre.
The internet made so many niche entertainment subcultures.
It’s been noticed before. https://archive.is/fphZh
