David Kessler explains why grief makes you rewatch the same movies: your nervous system is seeking safety and predictability after trauma. It's emotional medicine, not avoidance. Like rest after injury, rewatching familiar shows with known endings helps you cope.
Hi, I'm David Kessler. I'm a grief and loss specialist. I've been doing this work for decades now. If you're in grief and or trauma and you can't stop watching the same TV show or movie over and over, there's nothing wrong with you. Your brain's actually protecting you. When something traumatic happens, your nervous system gets thrown into chaos and grief is exhausting. So your brain goes looking for something safe and predictable, something with no surprises. So you know the TV show or movie that you already know the ending to. You've seen it a dozen times. It's actually medicine for your nervous system. No new characters to figure out, no unexpected plot twists. Just familiarity, predictability, safety. This is an avoidance. This is about you being lazy or stuck. This is your nervous system doing exactly what it needs to do to survive after trauma. The same way your body needs rest after a physical injury, your nervous system needs predictability after an emotional tough time. So re watch the show, drink some tea, wrap yourself in a blanket. You're not falling apart. You're doing grief exactly right.
