We humans perceive the world through stories. When a good TV series ends, the loss mimics genuine sadness at worst. It’s a difficult place.
When the pandemic began, I made new friends. In the midst of the crisis, I sometimes missed something else to think about.
Ted, Robin, Lily, Marshall and Barney came into my life. Our relationship was relaxed and warm, we met 208 times. I already got used to the routine where we spent time together every day.
Suddenly we didn’t meet again.
I’m talking, of course, about the characters in the TV series, as I’ve been finding myself more and more on TV lately. As a protection mechanism for an insecure world situation, I am sometimes immersed so deeply in the stories that the relationship with fictional characters has begun to feel real.
And when the addictive series ends, the mind dominated by a strange emptiness and longing. The pain of giving up that mimics a genuine one, almost like losing a dear friend. At first, it feels hard to find anything equally interesting to replace with a loud oatmeal.
The phenomenon has been named: post-series depression. I asked two psychologists what it was all about. I heard that the phenomenon is common.
“We humans mirror ourselves to cultural products. We are beings who perceive the world through stories. Ending a series can feel like losing a piece of something magical, something about yourself that you found while watching the series, ”says the psychologist. Anne Haikola.
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Good stories are constructed with appropriate information gaps.
Why man then hooked on TV series? Good stories are constructed with appropriate information gaps. There is a great need for man to get his hands on the missing crumb of information.
Last year I met Roy’s rich family. During the first episodes, I didn’t get caught up in the breathtaking dialogue, but after that I got badly hooked.
Curiosity had awakened.
“The motivating power of curiosity is also visible at the brain level. When a person is curious, the brain pleasure center is activated. This affects why curiosity motivates us, ”says the psychologist Hanna Siefen.
I extended the end of our relationship by regulating the last episodes. I didn’t devour everyone into the tube but took a break for several days in between. I listened to the soundtrack of the series and Surin already finished everything in advance.
A colleague pointed out that my fuss sounds like a special form of torture. Maybe that’s what it was. After the last episode, I wandered down in my time until I rediscovered my curiosity.
It is comforting that you can always make new friends on streaming services.
The author is the news manager for HS Lifestyle.
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