Dealing with the Series Hangover Syndrome

The post series end-of-the-world feeling infects many fans. The emptiness that comes from finishing the seventh book in the Harry Potter series, the last episode of Breaking Bad or the series finale of How I Met Your Mother and realising that there will be no more is all engulfing and takes time to get over. Whether or not you like how the storyline wraps up in the end, series hangovers will get to you if you have deeply connected with the show/books.
The experience of finishing your favourite show is close to that of a break-up. You meet a person and fall in love with him or her. You start spending quality time with that person, get overly attached and when you think this would go on forever, you open your eyes only to realise that the person has left you without any good reason. You sulk over it, toss and rant about your miseries and when you think you can never get over your ex, love dawns upon you once more in the form of another series and you happily delve into the never ending cycle of doom.  
Metaphors aside, it all starts with a feeling of anticipation when the last book or the episode comes out. All those good feelings start flooding your heart as you read the first few pages or watch the first few minutes. Everything goes well. You are halfway through and simply love it. You ignore your friend's advice to take things slow because how could anything go wrong? You become so involved that you shut everything else out. Only you and the feelings you have for the work of fiction matter.

When you are nearing the end, with about a quarter of the chapters left, you can feel that you don't really have much time left, you freeze up, and then read the same sentence or view the clip over and over again as if it will magically get longer. Then suddenly it ends. Right then, you feel heartbroken and betrayed because it's all over. You cry and think there is no way you can ever love another series. You are so involved in the series that you cannot even consider another book or show. Your virtual 'fan club' friends give you words of encouragement and over time, you pick yourself up with great difficulty knowing that maybe one day, you will love another series again.
Since most of you start to develop a connection with the plot and the characters, the loss seems painful. You discuss the characters with fellow fans and get more excited about staring at them for an hour on your television than you do about seeing your real friends. However, it is for your greater good that you come out of this feeling of existential crisis and here are a few tips to get you started.
1.Go over it again. There are fans who read fifteen sentences of Harry Potter or watch fifteen minutes of F.R.I.E.N.D.S everyday as a ritual. Repetition, therefore, might ease your pain.
2.Read and write about it. Tweets and status updates on how badly you miss the show is fine but I am talking about actual writing here. Write how you feel about the loss and read about how others are feeling about it. This should unburden your heart.
3.Force a friend to start watching/reading it. You can never go back and watch the show again for the first time but you can experience the whole rollercoaster ride again through your friend. You can also bug the friend with spoilers from time to time.
4.Seek similarity. Look for other shows that your favorite actors/actresses are in or grab another book written by the same author. Sometimes our attachment to particular actors or a particular style of writing is so strong that this rebound method works.
5.Move on. Find a new show or a book to obsess over but before that, realise that it was only a piece of creation that has lived beyond its life expectancy. Wake up, step out in the sun and have a good time with your real F.R.I.E.N.D.S.