You're hanging out with your friends, going places, and seeing things. Maybe you're dancing at a club or maybe you're just at home playing video games, or even looking at art in a museum. Once it's all said and done and everyone has gone home, though, do you begin to feel lonely?
For me, this always happens. I begin to overthink things that happened, worry about something weird I might have said, and sometimes I become overwhelmingly sad. Today it's not as bad as it was a few years ago, but somehow I end up in this weird, "post-party depression."
Much like any other depression, this can be easily dealt with once you know what to do, but it's still disappointing to find yourself having to use your coping mechanisms. Especially if you feel guilty because you're friends were just here. We all want to feel like we're strong and can take care of ourselves, but it's not always that simple.
So why does this happen? It can be theorised that you've had so much fun that you depleted your serotonin levels, or you've become nostalgic. By comparison, you're not having fun at all without your friends there, or maybe it's that now you're being left alone with your negative thoughts. Perhaps it's even endorphins released by doing something fun or going somewhere.
No matter the cause, it is something that myself and many others deal with. It can be overwhelming and cause you to not want to see your friends again for fear of the sadness that follows their leaving, or cause your friends to not want to see you again because you're "clingy." Both of those thoughts can worsen things, too. Because we live with it, and we want to keep living, how can we deal with it?
You can get busy. Get a head start on that paper, play some video games, watch a movie. Distract yourself from your thoughts. Talk yourself out of it, reassure yourself that you didn't say anything stupid, or if you did that your friends are just as human and have said dumb things too. Remind yourself of fun things you will be doing in the future. How would your favourite character deal with this? Call a parent and talk to them, about anything. Reminisce over funny photos you and your friend(s) took together.
Think of all the things that you love and can do now because you are alone. I wouldn't be able to write this article right now if my best friend was here distracting me. I wouldn't possibly be able to reach out to other people and help them through this same thing because I too would be putting off the "fun hangover."
