Coping with ‘football withdrawal’

Even though Jeff Dean’s favorite football team, the Seattle Seahawks, didn’t make the Super Bowl this year, he’s still excited for the big game.

He is, however, dreading the end of the season and the six-month wait until the next season starts.

Dean is one of many fans who goes through “football withdrawal,” a phenomenon many football fans experience after season’s end. Many describe it as a feeling of deprivation that other sports can’t satisfy.

To help get through it, Dean gets together with other fans to watch reruns or recordings, but ultimately, he said “we just endure. You don’t want to rush the year by.”

Even if the Seahawks had made it to this year’s Super Bowl and came out with a win, he said the withdrawal would be the same as any other year.

“It doesn’t matter,” Dean said. “The 12th Man Army are solemnly behind our team, ready for the next season. It can always get better.”

Dr. Luis Fernandez, a primary care physician with Portneuf Medical Center, said the feelings of withdrawal aren’t too harmful. It becomes harmful when it’s coupled with other things, like seasonal affective disorder.

It doesn’t help that February is a prime month for SAD. To help people push through their withdrawal feelings, Fernandez recommends to “get sunlight, some exercise, and to get together with friends and family.”

If you have a predisposed condition or show depressive symptoms, Fernandez says it’s always important to get help from a professional.