8 Bizarre Psychological Disorders Affecting Modern Man

By Peter Austin /

8. Post-Avatar Depression

We€™ve all seen James Cameron€™s Avatar; big blue Na€™vi tribespeople living a wonderful life in communion with nature surrounded by what can only be described as eye-candy. In fact it turned out to be such a magical experience that, upon leaving the cinema, a number of viewers fell victim to what colloquially became known as post-Avatar depression, as they came to the realisation that Pandora was a completely imaginary and unattainable utopia. A support thread soon appeared on avatar-forums.com and garnered over 3500 replies. The thread€™s creator, known as Zoconno, stated that people were struggling to come to terms with the fact that €œthe dream can't actually come true€, which was soon backed up by users like Namash, who alleged to have come to a sudden standstill while walking back to the car, claiming €œI realized none of it was real, and I realized I could never experience it for myself€. The thread and others like it eventually escalated to the point that some users reported suicidal feelings. One poster, Jefz, said he had found himself thinking €œIf I would kill myself, I might start over again as a Na€™vi (sic)€ but two days later announced that he was €œlosing the depression€ and had realised that €œit€™s just a movie€. Importantly, there is no evidence of an individual being diagnosed with actual clinical depression after experiencing the post-Avatar blues but the wave of sadness and futility that briefly swept the internet after the movie€™s release demonstrates the effect that a seemingly innocent three hour piece of film can have on us. Try to top that for the sequel, Cameron.