Post Concert Blues

Welcome to the Stay U Blog, and thanks for stopping by today.

My name is Kate and I'm the owner, Counsellor and Career Coach at Stay U. I am a single mum, who is on the Spectrum and I have a history of depression. This may sound like a recipe for disaster, but instead, I like to use my lived experiences to help others, like yourself.

My blog today - the first of many - will talk about the Post Concert Blues. Sounds like one of those new country/indie groups that think the ukulele is cool. It is, in fact, a type of depressive episode resulting from not only concerts, but any large events that had a long build up, a great deal of planning, anticipation and short-term high levels of excitement - such as a wedding, major birthday and overseas holiday.

Have you ever woken up the morning after a great concert and just burst into tears? Or come home from a holiday and thought, "ok, now what?" and not wanted to leave the house?

The Post Concert Blues is a feeling of sadness, being overwhelmed or unmotivated, and a little "out of sorts" (or sometimes even a lot) - or a combination of all of the above. It can be an emptiness in the pit of your stomach, or a sense of loss. In extreme cases, it has even been compared to grief. Some experience nausea when they think back on the past event, which can really ruin what should be a wonderful experience.

I am sure there are more than a few of you reading this who will find one or more of these feelings familiar. We have all been there.

Although Post Concert Blues and depression is very common, people often feel silly or guilty about experiencing it. They can also feel resentful that others are not experiencing it, or even regret attending the event. Talking about how you are feeling and realising you are not alone is important, because letting these feelings simmer or ignoring them could result in avoidance of social events, or Social Anxiety. Normalising and developing coping strategies and tools will help to ensure that the Post Concert Blues is easier next time, or are at least more manageable.

What can we do to combat the Post Concert Blues?

The answer is different for everyone. For some, looking over photos or videos of the event reminds them of how great the event was and helps push away the blues. For others - myself included - looking at these makes us feel worse and can actually exacerbate the symptoms. For us, the best solution is to focus on something else that brings us happiness. This is not to mask or ignore the depression, or forget about the event, but instead to temporarily calm and re-focus our minds so that we can go back and look at our memories and relive the high without a negative result.

The number one thing is to have something else to look forward to - an activity that brings your happiness and fulfilment. Having one large event to look forward to, with no vision of the future, will often result in heartache and negative emotions, even if we are not susceptible to depression or anxiety. This is simply human nature. A list of short-term goals can help us to live a happier, healthy life. Without anything to look forward to, our minds wander and negativity or self-doubt can creep in.

Speaking of self-doubt, that brings us to the topic of the next blog - Imposter Syndrome. I hope to see you there, and remember - a problem shared is a problem halved. Take care of yourself. xx