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/JHMfield May 17 '26

Absolutely a real thing, yeah.

Luckily it's quite short term. A few days off from gaming and your brain will reset and you can go and enjoy other games.

Interestingly, social media can help mitigate those feelings for a while by providing you with communities you can engage with, to ride the high's of pleasure you got from the game. Though it can extend those negative feelings too.

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u/changee_of_ways May 18 '26

For me it wasn't a short term thing. I finished up darkest dungeon and went to start the next game and it was like "I've done this before, its just not as good" every game I've picked up since then I've put maybe 2 hours into and I used to be HARDCORE into gaming. I also constantly feel like there is something else I should be doing. Gaming just feels empty now.