Post Game Depression

It's over.....I can't believe it, finally after all these hours spent, it's done. I finished the game! *Sobs*

Oh hello there, metallic nation you seem to have caught me sobbing uncontrollably at the fact that i have just completed another great game. I am now suffering what people call PGD which means Post Game Depression. The feeling of sadness, emptiness, the loss of direction altogether and the unbearable boredom you feel, all these come from finishing a video game that you put a lot of time in and enjoyed. You don't feel like doing anything else and you feel like these feelings will never leave you.

So as I sit here typing away how I feel and about this PGD I have, do please at anytime leave me a comment or message me if you have had any feelings like this after something or about your own experiences with Post Game Depression.

Game's that made me feel PGD in the past 15 years include, DBZ Budokai 3, GTA 5, Telltales Guardians Of The Galaxy, Telltales Walking Dead Season 1, Yakuza Kiwami, Watch Dogs 2, Dragonball Xenoverse 1&2, Firewatch, Digimon Cyber Sleuth, Uncharted collection 1 - 4, Assassin's Creed Syndicate, The Bureau: Xcom Declassified, Heavy Rain, Spec Ops: The Line, Mass Effect 2, Pokemon X, Sims 3, Gears Of War 1 - 3, Batman Arkham Asylum, Halo 3, Far Cry 3, Saints Row 1-4 and finally LA Noire this is to name but dozen there's been many more but only these have sprung to my mind as of right now.

The first stage of PGD is the feeling of disbelief because the experience you have had over the many hours and days spent playing a game has now finished, the feelings of sadness, empty feeling, boredom all creep in to make their nest in your soul. Stage two is the loss of direction i would say like you are unsure what to do next and you are just craving for something to fill the void but you fear nothing will and stage 3 is just the last stage being starting a game and missing the fun of the previous game. PGD is all caused by the end of a great game you enjoyed which transported you away from reality to a virtual world where your real life troubles did not matter because you are not you, you are someone else with many lives who is not afraid to lose a life because you'll come back in a few seconds or minutes or you can restart and go again. 

You can also get post depression from finishing a series you have been binging like breaking bad, i spent days in bed watching the show i was gripped, enthralled just immersed in this story and when i finished it, i had no idea what to do, i was sad and i felt empty too. People tend to get distressed when a character or game they love comes to an end which this feeling funny enough was dubbed the Seinfeld effect after the cancellation of the tv show of the same name back in the 90s. 

Us gamers in the video game worlds do become quite parasocial and develop parasocial relationships with fictional characters basically we feel a connection with fictional characters because we gamers frequently interact with many of these people models in games and these parasocial relationships are quite positive as we can test out social and emotional realities without the risks of real relationships, our parasocial relationships are one sided with fictional characters in terms of interaction which means we are protected from physical danger and social rejection so you know with this in mind its why we could form a relationship with a psychopath like Trevor in GTA 5 as we are not in danger of him being a real person and cutting our throats. 

It's been a week since i completed Mafia 3 and i still feel this empty void and i feel like nothing can fill this gap in right now like i'm still in the second stage which is basically the loss of direction and just unsure of what to play next. I think this depression is taking a bit longer not just because of how great Mafia 3 is and how much i enjoyed it but more so from the lack of gym time i have had lately, honestly the less exercise and work outs i get i think the more these depressing thoughts and feelings creep in. 

So basically the reality check is what causes the post game depression aswell as finishing a game we spent many hours of which we were thoroughly immersed in. 

Thanks for reading and visiting my blog as ever, take care, have a nice day :)