Hi everyone, I need a bit of advice because there’s something that’s been bothering me for a few days. On Saturday I went to see the new Ari Aster movie Midsommar. There’s a lot of disturbing concepts and gore in that movie, but I’m pretty hardened to horror so the majority didn’t bother me too much - apart from one sequence right at the start. Without going into detail, there’s quite a long and troubling scene surrounding suicide, including showing dead bodies and the method used. Anyone who has seen it will know what I mean. As someone who has struggled with suicidal thoughts and has attempted a few times, I found it super triggering and disturbing, but managed the rest of the movie ok. 

Since Saturday I’ve been really struggling with the images from that scene popping into my head, and having lots of intrusive thoughts about it. Usually I can deal with those thoughts ok, but because this was a “real” detailed image (obviously fictional, but also not something my brain just concocted), I can’t stop picturing it. My mood has been a bit off, I’m really anxious, and I’m struggling to sleep because I’m scared I’ll dream about it. To be clear, I have no suicidal ideation atm so I’m not at risk in that way, but I still feel very triggered and disturbed by how much these images are haunting me. I’ve never been affected by a film scene in that way before so it’s worrying me.

Does anyone have any advice for dealing with these kind of mental images/thoughts when they’re related to something external? Has anyone else been super triggered by disturbing images or scenes and found a way to get them out of your mind? I don’t have a therapist to talk to atm (on a waiting list) but I thought some tips from people who might have experienced similar things would be useful and help me feel like I’m not alone here.