Video trend helps relieve daily life pressures

Reports have shown that people nowadays are more likely to fall into depression.

In the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, the global prevalence of anxiety and depression increased by a massive 25 percent, according to a scientific brief released by the World Health Organization in March.

In March last year, levels of anxiety and depression in people aged 18-24 were assessed higher than those in other adult age groups, according to the Report on the Development of Chinese National Mental Health (2019-2020) released by the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Psychology.

Lin Chun, an expert from the Chinese Psychological Society, told Beijing Evening News that watching these types of videos makes people highly concentrated on and immersed in the situations that are filmed. As people in the videos do activities, the audience also experiences a sense of control, rhythm and achievement, making them relaxed and happy.

For example, videos of people destroying an object, such as scraping soap or pinching slime, can help directly destroy the "dam" in people's minds, allowing emotions to release instantly and eliminate stress, Lin said.

Videos that show repairing actions allow brains to associate sensory information to form a stable and predictable sense of order and control, which counteracts the anxiety and stress of the audience, Lin said.

However, Zeng, the student, said that while watching the videos, she feels quite happy and uplifted. But after that, she still relies on herself to adjust her moods.

"From a long-term concern, it won't bring me too much happiness or solve my pressures. It is still up to me to figure it out and make peace with myself," she said.