We’ve all been there. Finishing a TV show is like losing some good friends. You laughed together, you cried together, you got emotionally invested in their love lives (maybe a little too invested).

Saying goodbye to a TV show is like watching your own child leave the nest. You don’t want them to leave, but you have to let go. Here is the devastating, heart wrenching feels we go through when the final credits start to roll.

#1 You Find It Difficult To Adjust To The Real World

The TV show you’ve been binge watching the past few weeks has just ended. As the screen fades to black you see your bleary-eyed reflection. You shudder and look away from your laptop in a daze.

There’s no “next episode” button to click on and nothing to distract you from your studies. You emerge from your bedroom wrapped in a blanket and shuffle down to the living room to talk to your family for the first time in weeks. They seem like nice people.

#2 You Can’t Accept That It’s Over

It’s a rude awakening when the final episode comes to an end. There’s no denying it. It’s over. It’s done. But it doesn’t really feel that way.

So you research the bloopers on YouTube, and then you find fan videos and cast interviews, so you watch all of those. You feel a sense of dread when those finish so you desperately find some fan fic to read. It’s terrible and you hate it, but it’s better than living in the real world.

#3 You Desperately Try To Talk To Others About It

After it ends you need to talk about it to someone – anyone – you don’t care who. The bored expressions and robotic head nodding from your family and friends doesn’t perturb you, and you’ll happily go over the smallest of details of the show until they tell you to shut up.

When you’re not talking about your show, you’re trying to get people to watch it so you can drag them in to the dark pit of despair with you. 

#4 You Attempt To Fill The Empty Void

When we finish a series we suddenly have a lot of free time. You can’t fill this time with a new series because you’re still mentally living in the old one, so you’re just kind of floating around, not really existing, not knowing what to do with your life.

What did you do before this show? Did you work? Have a hobby? Did you have friends? You can’t remember any more.

#5 You Remember All The Responsibilities You Neglected

Remember when TV was distracting you from your adult responsibilities? Well this is the stage when all those problems you’ve repressed come bubbling up to the surface for you to deal with. You realise you have 3 assignments due this week, your tutors have been trying to contact you because they thought you were dead, and you’re way behind in your bill payments.

As you pull all-nighters to finish your assignments, you vow to yourself you’ll never get this invested in a TV show again. You’re sworn off Netflix for life, and you’re going to be an real adult as of now.

#6 You Start All Over Again

You’ve finally got your life under control, you’re healthy, you go to the gym, you’re an active student and your finances are under control. You log into Netflix because why not? You’ve got some spare time.

You see the new season of Outlander has just aired. You cancel your plans to have brunch with your friends and settle in for the emotional ride. You’re ready to get hurt again.

Sophie is studying a Bachelor of Arts majoring in creative writing. She is an aspiring writer, dog enthusiast and thrift shop fashion icon.

(Lead image: Friends/NBC)