Disney Films Improve the Emotional State of Chemotherapy Patients
There is a reason people all over the world love Disney films. Everyone can lose themselves in the magical worlds and fantastic stories. But, it is the happily ever after, the satisfaction of a happy ending that keeps people watching over and over. This apparently includes chemotherapy patients.
A new study by scientists at the Medical University of Vienna shows that Disney films may “dramatically improve chemotherapy patients’ emotional state” (telegraph.co.uk) The study showed eight Disney films with happy endings to female cancer patients. The films included classics like Cinderella and Mary Poppins.
The study asked patients to respond through a survey how they felt after watching the films during the course of six chemotherapy cycles. Patients indicated they felt “less irritable” and “less worried” compared to when they did not view the films. Film-viewing patients also indicated they felt better than those who did not watch anything.
According to the study, published by lead author Dr. Johannes Ott, older Disney films were chosen because “they are more likely to evoke memories of the past and have a slower storyline”. (telegraph) Films with sad storylines like Dumbo and Bambi were purposefully not shown.
Dr. Ott says, “Disney movies tell stories of surmounting difficulties without necessarily resolving them. They are more about accepting change than about heroically overcoming all odds.” A sentiment cancer patients can relate too, and which was shared by Walt Disney himself who said, “the tonic effect of fun and play has long been recognized as an antidote to the stresses, worries, labours and responsibilities of our workaday life”.
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