Post Con Depression

Yes, you read that right. Post con depression. The general down feeling on the Monday after an enjoyable convention. Initially coined as a result of Anime conventions the term has been extended to comic conventions in general and really it’s easy to understand why that is. We all feel a little low come Monday because we just spent the weekend setting our own work schedule, relaxing, enjoying some time off. Even coming back from a vacation can leave you with a sense of general malaise as the fantasy of time off and daily adventure fades away. Is going to a comic convention really so different? Beyond just being a fun weekend there are several things that can magnify the effects of the post convention come down.

Finances
Conventions aren’t cheap. Between the price of tickets, parking, travel and food your bill can already reach beyond a hundred dollars and that’s without any purchases at the convention itself. Photo-ops and autographs, merchandise and art, all of it comes with a price tag. Hitting Monday and realizing that the jokes about spending too much suddenly aren’t funny can really lower your mood and keep it there until the next paycheque.

Con-Plague

What do you get when you take over a thousand people, put them in the same rooms and line ups together for three days, and one of them is sick? That one person probably just made several hundred people sick. These kinds of colds are so common place they are generally referred to as the ‘con-plague’ and can seriously dampen your mood into the work week. You’re already dealing with the physical toll of the weekend on your feet, no one has ever claimed these conventions are restful, and the icing on the cake is that you don’t know if you’re sore because your muscles hurt or if that’s the fever.

Reality
There is something beautifully surreal about being at a convention. The sentence: “Our Laura Croft isn’t happy with just my lightsaber, she also wants a portal gun.” will only be heard between rows of Funko Pops and comic books and really the only people laughing at it properly are the members of the Mass Effect universe that overheard. Conventions are where imagination overtakes reality, where you apologize to a Dalek for bumping into it because the Riddler threw a Pokeball at you. And now it’s Monday and you’re back to answering the phone because the email you just sent hasn’t been read. Being brought back into the real world after spending days in a wonderland of fiction with people who understand your references just sucks sometimes.

Con-Friends

If you go to a few conventions you’ll see familiar faces. Folks, artists and cosplayers who caught your eye and struck up a conversation at another convention some time ago. You’ve added them to Facebook and follow their Instagram and Twitter. Hanging out with them is always wonderful and you enjoy watching their progress and pictures. The problem is, you only meet them at conventions. Everything about your social life with these fine folks revolves around the convention scene. You share drinks at the after party and even join in the fun of cosplay and panels with them. The rest of the year? It’s just online, if that. Convention spaces are incredible social spaces since, chances are, you share a lot of common interests with everyone on the floor. There is a palpable sense of community and the loss of that once the convention ends can be a major blow.