In the days since Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins was published, we here at Novel Novice have noticed a disturbing trend among readers upon finishing The Hunger Games trilogy beloved by millions.
Lethargy (most likely from the inability to put down the book and sleep)- Irritability (see above)
- Trouble concentrating
- Flashbacks, especially when trying to get to sleep
- Inability to read other books
- Constantly comparing other books to Mockingjay and finding them lacking
- Tendency to return to Mockingjay to re-read certain passages (over, and over, and over … )
- Wondering out loud, “WTH DO I READ NOW?!”
If you have several of the symptoms above, you, too, may be suffering from PPD:
Post-Panem Depression
But there’s hope. If you or a friend are suffering from PPD, read on.
Treatments include:
- Immersion Therapy: Read other dystopian literature. A list of notable titles is available here and here.
- Visualization Therapy: Look ahead at soon-to-be-released, highly anticipated books. Here is a primer to get you started.
- Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare, Aug. 31
Paranormalcy by Kiersten White, Aug. 31- Firelight by Sophie Jordan, Sept. 7
- Twelfth Grade Kills (The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod) by Heather Brewer, Sept. 21
- Torment by Lauren Kate, Sept. 28
- Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld (the sequel to Leviathan), Oct. 5
- Beautiful Darkness by Margaret Stohl and Kami Garcia, Oct. 12
- Lost Hero (Heroes of Olympus) by Rick Riordan, Oct. 12
- Crescendo by Becca Fitzpatrick, Oct. 19
- Misguided Angel by Melissa De La Cruz (Blue Bloods book 5), Oct. 26
- Sapphique by Catherine Fisher, Dec. 2010 (sequel to Incarceron, both already out in U.K.)
- Ad Nauseum Therapy: If the above approaches don’t work, it’s time to go back to the drawing board. Pick up your well-worn copy of The Hunger Games and read the trilogy all over again. Repeat until you’re so sick of Katniss you want to kill her yourself.
Novel Novice 
LOL!
I definitely have PPD; thanks for the book RX 🙂
LOL LOVE it!! I am suffering from all of the above and a nasty cold, but tha’t beside the point 🙂
LOL LOL LOL
aha!
I actually have PPD.
yeah,i heard of these books. hoping to order Tourment soon by Lauren Kate! love the first book. 😀
Post-Panem Depression is a phenomenon since the first Hunger Games Book! I hope i´ll come back to life soon (at least it worked for me after a long while for the first two)…
*sigh*
I have Post-Panem Depression.
I was just explaining to a friend what I felt like and she sent me this link…oh, the PAIN. =(
Your ‘visualization therapy’ works wonders though!
❤ I hope I will come alive again.
Lol. I have all of these! And Im ACTUALLY expecting to get my hands on these books as soon as theyre out. And expecting to be buried in debt…owing MY MOTHER. Suzie C,Im gonna go comfort myself wit ur books now….
So I haven’t started the series yet after buying Mockingjay yesterday & I’ve got PPD to look forward to:( Thank goodness I have a a sense of humour:(
Your are forgeting..
Breaking down and crying at random times the day after reading the book.
but dude, this is STRANGELY ACCURATE!!!!!
i have post potter depression, cos im cooler
i have post panem depression… i feel sick… i dont feel like reading anything else and im afraid i’ll get worse if i re-read the trilogy…. im just gonna wait and let it pass…. 😀
I have never read this series, and I’m not sure I ever will. I’ve only heard bits and pieces of the story from friends and watching the trailer, but already I can’t handle it. It’s become a disturbing obsession for me. I sobbed during the trailer, and sometimes I’ll start crying just from thinking about it. I can hardly get my mind off of it. My heart feels constricted nearly all the time, my stomach is always in a knot, and I’ll start shaking and shivering randomly. This honestly seems like the most depressing story concept ever imagined. I know I’m being totally irrational, because it’s just fiction, but just thinking about children as young as 12 being killed in such brutal ways, and people getting pleasure out of it… it absolutely sickens me. It’s safe to say that I have lost plenty of sleep over it, and like I said, I haven’t even read it or seen the movie. All of my friends tell me to read it, because it’s apparently really good and well written, but I’m actually legitimately scared I’ll get clinical depression if I even try. I might watch the movie, though, because at least it’s only PG-13, and I always find movies to be a lot less personal/moving than books anyways. Anyway, that’s my little spiel on it. I don’t know why it’s affecting me so much. Even now I’m trembling and feel like I’m about to cry… I hope I can get over it eventually. If anyone has any advice (should I read it and get it over with or wait for the obsession to pass?) please let me know. 😦
I think you should read it and get it over with Leanne, otherwise you’re always going to wonder…..
Yeah this is weird, what IS it about this book. I thought it was just me and I don’t know whether to feel better or worse about the fact that this seems to be an epidemic. Haven’t read the last one….saw some posts about how some people hated the ending and I kind of don’t want to know because if goes how the reviews say I will develop real depression! So I keep going back and forth, should I read it, should I not, should I read it should I not? I know I’m going to give into curiousity eventually….. The worst part is that I’m moody and can’t concentrate at all lately and I’m afraid someone is going to start asking me what’s up?! What am I supposed to tell them, “oh no my Grandmother didn’t die or anything it’s just this freaking book I’ve been reading”. This book is like the cocaine of litterature, it should come with a warning.
Did you read it, Carla? I finished the trilogy all in one weekend (finished last book last night).
The ending was depressing, BUT she ends up with who I want her to end up with, even if it isn’t exactly HOW I wanted it to happen. I’m actually going to wait until the movie comes out on video to see it, because I know I’ll be disappointed after immersing myself in the books for 3 days straight.
I haven’t read it yet. I read the spoilers and then I forced myself to stop thinking about it because I’ve been so busy with real life lately. I will definitely read it when I get some more time on my hands. I did see the movie though and actually I feel like that helped my PPD. Usually I’m dissapointed by movies made from books I’m really attached to but, this time only thing I didn’t like is that they cut out a lot of good dialogue from the book. I guess that’s to be expected due to time constraints. I felt they kept the spirit of the books though, I would definitely recommend it seeing it in theaters.
I so have PPD. I haven’t been eating or sleeping well since I first picked up the book last week. I’m glad I finished Mockingjay last night. I thought it would help with me feeling like this, but I still have knots in my stomach and can’t concentrate at all.
My wife keeps asking me if I’m ok and tells me its just a book (she read it as well but isn’t affected as much as I am)
I hope this passes soon because I’ve been useless for the past week.
I didn’t realize this post went through. This is for Eric below
I so have PPD. The first I heard about the story was when I went to the movie last weekend. Ever since then I haven’t been able to eat, sleep or basically function. I finished all 3 books in about 3 days but still can’t get it off my mind. I feel like the characters are my family and knowing how much they suffered is killing me.
I was happy with who got together at the end like Megan above but still feel terrible how the games still affect their lives to much.
I can’t image those of you who had to wait for the other books to be published. I feel being a 31/yo guy that I shouldn’t be as soft but this series affected me in a way nothing else ever has.
How the games affected their lives is what made it incredible and real I think. Not a happily ever after like some Young Adult fiction writers I could name…I loved who got together. It could only end that way IMO, but the key losses saddened me and the way people drifted. The author has a real way of making them very poignant and tragic. I felt some things were glossed over and rushed, but overall I liked it.
I think reading them as an older person (I’m in my early twenties) is more striking than to the younger audience the film is more geared towards. When you can put yourself in their position and imagine if humanity really got down to these depths of imbalance, cruelty and in many cases, ignorance and a complete lack of empathy and understanding.
The words that come to mind for me are brutal and tragic. Great trilogy.
I’m so glad I am not alone in this. I haven’t read a book in years and even when I did none of them had this effect on me. I finished the last book this morning at work just because I had too. Once I finished I found it extremely hard to concentrate on any work all day. I looked into more books and started previewing books on Amazon that were recommended. After reading a few I’m sure I’ll like, I feel much better. Just needed to get another storyline in my head.
Don’t worry, it took me about a week before I was back to my normal self and not thinking about the book all the time. I was even dreaming about Peeta and Katniss! Now I’m avoiding seeing the movie because I don’t think I can handle another funk. 🙂
i got this aswell, I didn’t know anything about the series till the movie came out, now I cannot wait for the next one. It wasn’t till the next day I starting feeling depressed about the movie, wishing the charcs were real ect, etc