Gentleman ♀

Post Series Depression TUT (and how to deal)

Heyyyyyyyy,

If there's one thing I love its post-series depression. Okay but for real, yes this is a real thing and it sucks ass. PSD, post-series depression, is when after finishing a show you become depressed. Yeah it sounds stupid and yeah it's kinda embarrassing being so upset over something not real but it exists. People who have this horrible curse usually have anxiety or depression beforehand and it's just magnified by the ending of a show. PSD happens after you finish a really long show or book or set of movies or any sort of series. It happens because you dedicate so much of your time and emotion to it and suddenly it's just all over. I personally get PSD allllllllllllll the time and there are different ways to deal with it. The ways you deal with it can vary from series to series or you could stick to one you know will work. First I'll tell you ways other people deal with it and then I'll specify how I personally deal with it using various of the already explained tactics. I feel so professional writing this but I'm some 12 year old getting my research from the Reddit tab on-off google and like some random website made by minimum wadge 30-year-olds that just finished Game Of Thrones for the 83248015976820829th time XD I promise I'm trying my best to be legit.

RESTART THE SERIES
Some people like to restart their series once they've finished it to see how far they've come. Sometimes it's funny to see the obvious foreshadowing, things you missed, and remember old characters as well as the start of running gags. It can help you cope seeing it all come together wrapped up with a bow.

JOIN A FAN GROUP AND / OR TALK ABOUT IT
Even if it's a small series there's almost always a fan group for it somewhere filled with people in the same predicament as you. You could also try talking to a friend, preferably one who also watches the series, but sometimes it hard to meet someone IRL that's just as invested in it as you are so that's where places like Reddit and Pinterest come in as well as fan sites.

OBSESS OVER IT
Find or make a playlist that reminds you of it, wear T-shirts of the show, change your phone background to say just how much you love it. Let everyone know loud and proud that you love that series and that you are a complete fangirl/fanboy! You could even try cosplay or making homemade merchandise for yourself or if you into it that much you could sell it! Legally, of course, don't forget to pay attention to Copywrite laws and other things that could potentially cause trouble ^^

SIMPLY FORGET ABOUT IT
AKA the complete opposite of the last one. If there's a popular song that reminds you of it avoid the song at all costs or if that doesn't work, re-listen to it till it becomes normal. If you have the characters on posters on your wall, take them down. Delete screenshots on your phone, change your background, tell your fan-friends to not talk about it with you. This only works for some people so I'd suggest trying to embrace it like mentioned before this before you accidentally wreck your only way of coping.

REALIZE IT'S NOT REAL
(this works best with TV series) Watch interviews with the actors, or authors, or voices. Watch bloopers and realize it's all an act put on. Research the actors and maybe watch other series they're in. See how the sets were made and look at the flimsy props used. It kind of helps to ground you and convinces your right brain as much as your left brain that it truly isn't real. And you might just find yourself a new favorite actor or two... or a lot.

WRITE OR READ FANFICTION
This sometimes only works with bigger series but it's a good way to get your daily dose of that series without rewatching it. Some people (like me) can't stand seeing things twice but still, really love the stuff when it's new and exciting. With big series, there are so many genres to choose from. You can watch "unused episodes" people write, or short stories, some of them are from the first person, some from the third, some in diary format, and some... grimey and weird... but I won't judge you for it honestly, we all find ourselves in weird places as long as you don't do anything bad were all good ^^. There are stories about the characters being hurt, them crying, them saving people, them falling in love. There are also AU's (alternate universes) which makes the possibilities endless! With smaller series, it's harder to find a wide variety of things but that opens the possibility for you to write some of your own in your own style and people searching for the same thing can find your stories and you can help them too. If you don't like writing like me you can daydream your own stories or think about them when your falling asleep. I have the attention span of a three-year-old with brain damage so it's okay if it takes you even up to a year of dreaming every night to finish a story (or take a year and still never finish it like me). I recommend obvious sites like FanFiction.net and archiveofourown.org for fanfic reading. I'm not sure if you can write it on those sites but you could always publish it here or on a small site I found called inkitt.com

FIND A NEW SHOW
Find a new show to obsess over. It could be hard to find one to replace the one your watching but with help from google and friends, anything is possible ;) If you need any help I gotchu. 10/10 Books for kids; Smile, Wish, Dork Diaries, Trapped In Lunch Lady Land, Last Kids On Earth, and Ghost. I've heard that Wings Of Fire and Warrior Cats have big communities so they might be good too though I've never read them. Shows and movies, some for kids and some for all ages: Supernatural (10/10 would recommend for maturer audiences, also has one of the biggest fanfiction communities ever), Last Kids On Earth the Netflix show (10/10 for kids and teens), Amphibia (7/10 for kids), Marvels Spider-Man 2017 (9/10 for kids and teens), Back To The Future (10/10 for all ages), Tom Holland's Spider-Man (9/10 for all ages), and Shera And The Princess Of Power on Netflix (10/10 for kids and teens). Happy watching!

MAKE OR WATCH YOUTUBE EDITS, ANIMATIONS, AND COMPILATIONS
It's pretty cool seeing the amazing editing skills people have put to work on your favorite characters with your favorite songs. it helps you find songs you didn't know those characters could relate to and the connections people make with other outlets. People make connections with old vines and new TikToks, songs, and memes. The creativity some people have is almost overwhelming with how emotional it can make you feel.

Those are all of the coping mechanisms I can think of right now but there are mannnnnnny more ways. Remember everyone deals with it differently, this is my mixing pot of ways I personally deal. Just for context, this is how I'm dealing with the end of Supernatural. I dealt with other shows' ends differently. First, I have friends who watch the show too. I rant about it to them and even though I know they don't give a shit, it still feels nice to have someone listen. Second, I watch compilations and edits on youtube as well as behind-the-scenes videos to ground me. Third and most importantly I read Fanfiction. Supernatural, as I said before, has ALOT of fanfiction. If you actually read all my entries you've probably figured out I repost copy and pasted fanfiction on my other account called "Copied And Pasted Fanfic" it's hard to miss since I post whole 21 chapter series's at once in big chunks of like 7 entries. I've been keeping a journal of ones I've read making summaries and small commentary so let me know if you want to see them cause I've read a lot of fanfiction. I like to obsess over Supernatural but I forgot Last Kids On Earth, everyone deals differently at different times and rates, don't forget that. I know it's hard to accept the end of a beloved series but you will get over it and find a new source of light. I wish you luck on your journey into being okay again! Sincerely,

~Gentleman :)