Psychologist warns it’s a major red flag if you relax by enjoying true crime stories

Guess that makes a lot of us

Yes that right folks, there’s a big red flag to be raised if you like true crime.

More specifically, mental health specialist Dr Thelma Bryant explained that consuming violent media may be done so for a specific reason.

She said: “If your idea of relaxing before you go to sleep is to watch three episodes of Law and Order, [then] I would encourage you to think about ‘why is trauma relaxing to me’?

“Some of us grew up in high stress [situations], so people mistake peace for boring. To come home to yourself you have to lean into the discomfort because it’s gonna feel unfamiliar.”

Many social media users have since chimed in with their own reasons for watching true crime.

One said: “”It distracts me from the pain I’m feeling in my life. I don’t like it, it just redirects my anger.” A second added: “The trauma isn’t relaxing to me – it’s the justice the characters or real people often get that I never did in my own life.”

A third wrote: “Damn. This really hits home. I used to watch so much chaos on TV, but after working hard on myself for the past two years I just can’t anymore.”