Lots of folks get post-holiday blues or find themselves sad after a fantastic vacation ends. But what about the depression one gets after a good game comes to its end? Thanks to Kotaku, we’ve learned that the first-of-its-kind scientific study into post-game depression revealed that it is actually RPGs that evoke “stronger post-game depression than other games.” The study, published in the Current Psychology journal, recruited participants through Reddit and Discord. Yeah, Reddit and Discord absolutely seem like the perfect place to find people commiserating together about their post-game sadness.
Researchers from SWPS University and the Stefan Batory Academy of Applied Sciences conducted this rather interesting study. The study’s goal was to understand the “sense of emptiness that arises after completing a deeply immersive game.” Two separate studies measured Post-Game Depression, or P-DGS as they refer to it. It included a total of 373 participants overall. Most participants declared playing every day (28.1%) or almost every day (41.4%). The most popular types of play were playing alone (30.6% of the time) or with teammates against other players (19.0%).
SWPS University psychologist Kamil Janowicz, PhD, said, Games are becoming more and more sophisticated, and increasingly involve more than just entertainment. For many people, completing a long, engaging game is not only a moment of satisfaction but also an emotional challenge. In an age of increasingly realistic and immersive games, understanding the processes taking place in players’ minds can help us understand how they impact our mental health.
The researchers conducting this study also measured four specific subscales. These were “Game-related Ruminations, Challenging End of Experience, Necessity of Repeating the Game, and Media Anhedonia.” Obviously, we’re not qualified to make any real diagnosis here. But we’re pretty sure the real world being on fire right now doesn’t help much either. We’re certain this isn’t the last study of this kind on the subject, and we’re curious what other researchers will find out in the future.