INVESTIGATING THE THERAPEUTIC IMPACT OF CINEMATHERAPY ON MENTAL HEALTH AND EMOTIONAL WELL-BEING AMONG TEENS AND COLLEGE STUDENTS IN TAMIL NADU

P. S. Padmavathy; Prabakaran V.

doi:10.29121/shodhkosh.v6.i1s.2025.6687

Authors

Ms P. S. Padmavathy Ph.D. Research Scholar- Part Time Internal, Assistant Professor, Department of Visual Communication, Faculty of Science and Humanitie, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Ramapuram, Chennai, India
Dr. Prabakaran V. Professor and Head - School of Media Studies, Faculty of Science and Humanitie, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Ramapuram, Chennai, India

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.29121/shodhkosh.v6.i1s.2025.6687

Keywords:

Therapeutic, Impact, Health, Emotional

Abstract [English]

The therapeutic potency of cinema has rarely been studied to explain its impact on health, especially on discrimination against adolescents and youth. The objective of this study is to analyse the impact of cinema on the emotional health of individuals, focusing on coping and well-being, especially for the youth. Respondents 16-24 years of age were surveyed independently using an online questionnaire aimed at measuring emotional attachment to films, watching habits and perceptions regarding the impact of cinema on their psychological state. The analysis provided showed cinema played a pivotal role in reducing their stress and respondents reported that emotionally, films do affect them greatly and importantly change their mood. Most of the respondents watched films as a means of recreation and for over 70% of them films served as an important tool to relax after a stressful day providing them an escape from reality. Furthermore, a sizable number of respondents opined that they were able to gain emotional relief, catharsis and personal development through the medium of the film, especially those cinemas that portray their problems or view them from a different angle. The results indicate that cinema is one of the most potent means of the emotional problems for the youth because of issues that deeply touch them and those using films one can interpose between raw stress and responsiveness with ease.

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https://dx.doi.org/10.29121/shodhkosh.v6.i1s.2025.6687 DOI: https://doi.org/10.29121/shodhkosh.v6.i1s.2025.6687

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