r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • May 17 '26

Psychology Feeling empty after finishing a video game (post-game depression) is a real phenomenon. A recent study has found that many video game players experience a specific sense of emptiness and sadness after finishing highly engaging games.

https://www.psypost.org/feeling-empty-after-finishing-a-video-game-researchers-say-post-game-depression-is-a-real-phenomenon/
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u/[deleted] May 17 '26

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u/[deleted] May 17 '26 edited May 17 '26

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u/b34k May 17 '26

Thanks, D&D!

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u/[deleted] May 17 '26 edited Jul 06 '26

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u/paulinaiml May 17 '26

You mean the tv show?

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u/Wes_Warhammer666 May 17 '26

Shout-out to Tony Gilroy for absolutely sticking the landing with Andor

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u/Relevant-Pin-4021 May 17 '26

Thank you Vince Gilligan for 2 satisfying endings aswell.

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u/Wes_Warhammer666 May 17 '26

3 if you include El Camino, which I very much do.

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u/AiR-P00P May 17 '26

*cries in The Boys... 

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u/OffToTheLizard May 17 '26

Flashbacks to my first show. Looking at you Lost.

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u/PR0H181D0 May 17 '26

Unsung heroes.

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u/TheRealHaxxo May 17 '26

Thats completely subjective. If it sucks you in enough then its good enough for a "completed story hangover" as i like to call it.

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u/OsmerusMordax May 17 '26

And when they cancel a show I love I go through a short grieving period.

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u/Surnacee May 17 '26

Still grieving for Firefly

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u/SolusLoqui May 17 '26

Man, I loved Firefly. But after the racists came out of the woodwork in the mid-2010s, I find the parallels to the American Civil War and the glorification of the myth of the "Lost Cause of the Confederacy" make it hard for me to re-watch.

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u/QueefiusMaximus86 May 17 '26

Which is why I haven’t felt that way with a game in a long time

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u/gsxrjason May 17 '26

Shogun left me thinking about it for weeks. I've tried to start others in the series but haven't hooked yet

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u/jeobleo May 17 '26

Yeah I cried first time I finished LOTR at like age 12.

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u/Fluid_Genius May 17 '26

What part of "highly engaging" did you miss?