Preface: Post Series Depression Syndrome (PSDS) (otherwise known as a “Showhole” on those Amazon Prime commercials) can also apply to movies, books, and sagas, of sorts.
**I am not a Doctor, do not take any of my advice seriously. I barely take my advice seriously.**
GIF Source: etukana.tumblr.com
So you just finished that show/movie series/book series, and you don’t know how to go on. All you want to do is curl up in a ball and cry because that fantasy world you lived in for a while has now disappeared. You feel like life is pointless and nothing could ever make you feel better. All because of some damn fictional characters!
I’m here to help. I spent all of my college years binging TV shows and trying to get over them. I thought I’d learned how to recover. Then I saw Mockingjay Part 2 and I thought my world was ending. Here are the steps I took to recover from my haze. If you follow these steps, I can guarantee that you will recover with 1-3 weeks (I cannot guarantee this).
These are recovery plans that I have tested and approved.
Recovery Plan #1: Binge a Comedy Series
Step #1 (I did this after a certain character died at the end of Game of Thrones this season and I was inconsolable): Push this topic out of your head by binge-watching Parks and Recreation. It works. It really really works. Already seen Parks and Rec? So have I; watch it again. Don’t like Parks and Rec? What’s wrong with you? (Estimated PSTS recovery time: 1 week)
GIF Source: TGON
Recovery Plan #2: Complete Immersion
Step 1: Go home, get on Tumblr and search it. Search it like there’s no tomorrow. Laugh over it, cry over it. Stay up way too late. You don’t even care; your body is numb with pain.
Step 2: I bet this TV show/movie has a soundtrack or a score. Download it. Listen to it on repeat. Listen to it until it doesn’t hurt anymore.
Step 3: Go do some physical activity. But make sure you are also still listening to the music. Exercise increases your endorphins which will start to make this sad music seem happy(er). *SCIENCE*
Step 4: Watch the actors in other things. Realize that they have other interesting projects. If their life can go on, so can yours!
Step 5: Are you still listening to the music?
Step 6: If you like to make videos or gifs, or paint or draw, etc. Do it. Put it on Tumblr.
Step 7: You’re in your car driving to work and *that* song comes on. All of a sudden you realize you’re not sad anymore. The complete immersion into the topic allowed for a healthy, cathartic release.
Recovery Plan #3: All Things Disney
Step 1: Disney will make things better. Disney has to make things better – keep telling yourself this. Find your favorite Disney movie. If you don’t have it on DVD then download it or stream it online. If you are feeling extra rich, purchase a Disney + membership. I have seen pretty much every Disney film but Aladdin remains my favorite, followed closely by Up. Yes, Up was made by Pixar but distributed by Disney so it counts.
Step 2: Listen to the soundtrack online, I would recommend Spotify but YouTube works too. Plus on YouTube, you will likely be treated to state of the art images or cut scenes from the film. Joking, they will be grainy images of Jasmine and Aladdin on the flying carpet or at best a scene from the film shot with a potato. But it doesn’t matter, you are here for the music!
Step 3: Immerse yourself in all things Aladdin. Buy a Persian carpet for your bedroom. Purchase a pet pirate. Play Genie Jackpots Megaways, a game based on the Genie from Aladdin. Buy a magic lamp, okay it’s hard to get a magic one but buy a lamp anyway, you never know!
Step 4: Never forget that no matter how bad your post series depression becomes, there will always be a Disney film to make you feel better again.
(Estimated PSDS Recovery Time: 2 weeks; 3 weeks for serious cases)
GIF Source: TGON
YOU DID IT! CONGRATS. YOU MADE IT THROUGH THE DREADED PSDS (or showhole)
Whatcha gonna watch next? 😉
**This is meant to be facetious. Please don’t misconstrue this fun post as me mocking real depression. It is a serious disease and I respect and empathize with anyone suffering from it. **
Wow, this actualy helped, thank you so much ive been searching for a solution for forever 🙂
By the way, this is not a joke, this actually helped so much and im crying tears of joy now I can finally enjoy movies and series 🙂
It’s like your my spirit animal 😐
I went with Recovery Plan 2. Been doing a complete immersion for about 7 days now: Tumblr, fanfics, Reddit threads, think pieces, character analyses, Youtube edits of my fave ship. Thank you so much for this! It’s actually helping
after reading the whole twilight series I felt like they where my family, and when the series was over I felt empty and didnt know what to do with myself. Now im slowly getting better because of your advice, thankyou!
Hey Alex! You really made my day. I just finished binge watching a kdrama and have been feeling very depressed lately. And somehow found that psd is a thing that people seriously suffer from. And it made me relieve:D Also your steps I am standing right between the rec plan 1 and 2. Time to choose one of them. 😀 Thanks for your tips from 5 years back.
i watched spirit riding free and i feel emty now, i want to watch it again so it wont be over, but i might start the prosess over ahain
PSD has opened up a whole new world. I had never heard of it until, like 10 minutes ago, but I have serious PSD symptoms while watching Nashville for the third time. I knew I had to do something about it, and no other series could take make away from it, except… Parks & Recreation, which I started watching last night! It just proves that your “Recovery plan 1” deserves some serious scientific merit!
READING THIS RIGHT AFTER I’M DONE WATCHING GOT CAUSE I’M SAD…FEELING TOO MUCH… I WISH THERE WAS NO END TO IT… AND THIS IS EXACTLY WHY I REFUSE TO WATCH OR READ SERIES…
during the process for number 2 can I still watch it while doing the things listed?
It helps man im also depress from anime teasing takagi san because it take forever to finish the anime this PSD sucks