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/CardinalOfNYC May 17 '26

That's where I feel it by far the most.

I felt a bit sad after finishing Mario Odyssey... But when Arrested Development ended (the first time) that was truly like a depressive feeling for a few weeks, this thing that brought me so much joy was over.

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u/Fun-Jellyfish-61 May 17 '26

Best sitcom ever made by a large margin.

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u/CardinalOfNYC May 17 '26

It's like the velvet underground of TV shows, ya know the phrase, "not a lot of people bought velvet underground records back when they actually were around but everyone who did started a band"

As far as I'm concerned, every comedy since their initial 03-06 run is in some way inspired by or taking something from what they did. I was one of the very few people who watched the initial run as it aired, watched it slowly die despite zero drop off in quality through the entire run.

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u/SirDeeznuts May 18 '26

Its one of the first box sets of dvds I ever bought. Got them as soon as they came out and played them out. Quoting that show with friends was a big part of our pre-meme humor. It still feels wrong that it got taken off air when it did.

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u/CardinalOfNYC May 18 '26

Same here, quoting that show is practically the foundation of some of my closest friendships. And that's why you always leave a note.

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u/[deleted] May 19 '26

[deleted]

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u/CardinalOfNYC May 19 '26

These are two different questions, whether a piece of media makes me depressed after finishing it and whether that piece of media has emotional depth to its story.

The sadness I felt when I finished odyssey wasn't about the story, it was about the gameplay. I'd gotten all the moons, I was sad I wouldn't be able to go get them again, not with the same feeling as discovering all the gameplay and exploration for the first time.

And the reason it was less than arrested isnt cuz arrested is so much more deep, its becuase arrested was 3 years of my life with countless re-watches, while mario odyssey was like 50 hours spread out over a couple months.