Anime depression is a very common problem.
This makes it even that much stranger that there are not that many articles speaking about it. I guess the popularity of anime, and the fact that people even want to learn how to make anime out of Japan is something that makes people think there could never be anything negative about anime.
So, what is anime depression?
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Anime Depression is the depression that is developed after your favorite anime draws to an end. This is not serious in most cases, but in other cases, people can develop depression due to watching too much anime. This is as severe as typical depression, and needs to be treated with as much urgency.
Let’s get into what that exactly means.
What Is Anime Depression
Anime depression, or Post Anime Depression (PAD) is a feeling of sadness, depression or emptiness that is experienced due to completing an anime series.
Understandably, it could be hard be hard to take this type of problem seriously.
I will be the first to admit. Most of the time, when people have depression, it is usually triggered by heavy personal stuff, or some sort of serious chemical imbalance in their minds. Not their favorite show coming to an end.
But as someone who has had to deal with a lot of this type of Depression recently, both on my persons and the people I love, I can’t help but take this beast a bit more seriously than it probably deserves.
In so doing, perhaps I will be able to differentiate the types of depression associated with anime. There are mainly two; PAD, and then standard depression.
As stated the first one, post anime depression, is a depression that is mostly brought about due to the ending of ones favorite anime.
Anime is extremely entertaining. It’s stories are captivating, its worlds breath taking, and its characters so magnetic, that you cannot help but feel like you are completely in that world. When it finally comes to an end, it feels like your whole world has ended.
Then there is standard depression.
Subcultures study
There was a study conducted by Helion, Tohoku university to try and see what role subcultural identity may play in mental health outcomes through mixing social support, and reputation. They found that anime, among idol, and hip hip subculture, was positively associated with anxiety, aggression, depressive symptoms, and suicidal tendencies.
These were not observed with fashion, and sports subcultures.
The paper went on to theorize that the reason for this lay with the stigmatization of those subcultures, and states, “Our work points up an urgent need to improve the mental health of the young generation by de-stigmatizing discriminated cultural groups”.
So, how to tell if the depression is just PAD, or actual serious depression. The first step could be identifying the cause of the depression.
What Causes Anime Depression
Anime depression or post anime depression is caused by the completion of a readers favorite story.
- Attachment to the story: Due to the depth of anime’s world, its character building, and its plot lines, it is easy to find that you become completely immersed in the world. In the case that you find yourself being completely immersed in the world, you are in for a very rude awakening when the story comes to an end.
- Cravings: Now you find that those habits you created when watching the anime have built cravings into your body. Maybe you ate certain chips when watching the anime. With it now finished, you are forced to live with those cravings for the chips, but it is pointless.
So you see, the causes for this depression depression are biological to an extent. That’s what may set them apart from standard depression.
If you find you are depressed after you watch an anime, then are fine when you watch another, and find that you are depressed again when you are done with that one, this could be a sign of standard depression.
Anime depression only strikes when an anime is very good.
And not all anime are good. If you find you are depressed every time you are not watching anime, that means that you are standardly depressed, and the anime you watch just holds the depression back, and that depression will return when you are not watching anime.
What are the Symptoms of Anime Depression
Here are the symptoms of PAD:
- Tired
- Lack of vigor/excitement/appetite
- Mental fog
- Emotional
- Desire to be alone
- Aimless wandering
- Recently completely an anime that you feel can’t be topped
For things like standard depression, it would be better to go to a depression website like medicalnewstoday for that. However, if it is PAD that you want the cure too, then my nakama, you’ve come to the right place.
How To Get Over Anime Depression
There are a number of prescribed methods of getting over anime depression.
The most effective way is starting by undoing the cravings, then creating a healthy connection to the anime, rather than outright cutting it off. That would lead to you falling for another anime later on.
Would it not be better to develop the skills necessary to not fall into deep depression again next time you find a killer anime? I’d think not.
1. Watch another anime from the same genre
This is the first thing you could try, and would probably work the quickest.
The reason is, those cravings you built consuming your anime will not go away overnight, so you could just redirect them to other anime. No doubt, you will not find an anime as good as the first one on our first attempt of watching new anime, but that is not the point.
The point is you are slowly unfurling yourself from the anime, and our getting your cravings to get accustomed to watching other anime, that way your connection to the first will slowly become less consuming.
2. Start the manga of the anime
This one is if for some reason you’ve found that the first did not work.
If you find that you are completely unable to enjoy other anime in spite of the fact you are trying to feed your cravings a new meal, then just start the old anime again, but in a new medium.
When you read it via manga, it should work in re-contextualizing your connection to the manga. This is because the familiarity of the content will allow you to connect to it better, but the fact that now you must be reading it instead of watching (meaning you will have to do new habits like turning pages, or sitting in a new way) means that you will be re-establishing your habits. This shift of the habits will definitely lessen the cravings.
3. Get the anime’s merchandise
This is again another form of re-contextualizing your connection to the anime.
By now taking in the anime through wallpapers, hoodies, and video games, you will re-establish your connection to the anime, but it will be a connection of a different nature.
I like this method, and the previously, because at the least they acknowledge the relationship between you and the material, rather than going completely cold towards them.
However, the goal is to make sure that the emptiness inside your heart is removed enough that you can move on to other works, which can only be done through slightly detangling yourself from the anime. When it comes to that, there is no better way to do it than in the next step.
4. Make content about the anime and connect to the fanbase
Finally, just write, and talk about the anime.
You do not need to do something like make YouTube videos about it, though that would help a lot. But if you find that you can’t do something like that, you can instead do something as simple as finding a way to write about it in your next school assignment.
Even better is to go to online and meet online forums where your anime is discussed.
Go to social media and meet your anime’s online fandom. This will help you a lot in building a community, and finding that the anime world does not end in the story, but continues with you to the outside world.
What Writers Can Learn From Anime Depression
The connection between the reader and characters exist.
If you are a writer, I want you to consider this for a moment. Out there in the world, there are people suffering from mental scaring because the work of a certain artist they love has come to an end. Can you imagine how it would feel to be that artist? Excitement? Concern? Or maybe even pride? No. That’s not normally cause.
Usually, the writers feel stressed.
Most of the time, all writers think about, and all they see, is the construction part of their story.
They are the backstage workers, watching the levers, pulleys, and the actors switching into different outfits. Their focus is purely on making sure that the lady wears her blonde wig properly, in the way he properly in visioned. He pays no heed to what the readers experience, and what they see.
As a writer, be aware of your connection to your work.
Concentrate on the details of the world, the plot, and the characters. But, never forget to take a moment to pause in between, and just assess the connection that your readers are developing with your work.
Some will be positive, some will be negative, but at the end of the day, they will all be connecting to your work. And if you see that connecting, know that you have done a great job as a writer.
You have mastered mastery.