Feeling dark after an eclipse? Psychologists have a reason for that

Are you feeling dark, blue, deflated, down, depressed, quiet, ho-hum, hollow, or bored after the Great American Eclipse on 21 August? Psychologists have a reason for that.

After exciting events like a total solar eclipse, or any big life event, such as graduation, marriage, or getting a dream job, people often fall into small pits of depression or the blues. Periods of high-energy and high-emotion are  often followed by emptiness.

The abrupt withdrawal of stress hormones such as cortisol from our bloodstreams could be the reason why people emotionally crash after a big life event instead of feeling relieved at the return of homeostasis.

Psychologist Eileen Kennedy-Moore hypothesizes why people feel hollow after high-stress events: “Post-adrenaline blues can strike after major positive events like a wedding or a graduation,” she says. “They can strike after a long burst of effort for a major work deadline or after a challenging personal project, like preparing for a family move.”

Some psychologists link this to ‘’the contrast effect” in which people are  more likely to judge their current state of mind as either better or worse depending on the direct comparison of what came before it. For example, a teacher may grade an average student’s paper more harshly if it is read after a particularly brilliant essay, or a singer’s so-so performance may be perceived as prophetic if it follows an amateur’s performance.

This effect is also seen physiologically in visual perception where colours look different depending on whether they are surrounded by darker or lighter shades. This phenomena of the contrast effect is so common in the entertainment industry that it is called post-show depression. The same thing happens when people return from vacation.

“We are not built to sustain such nonstop happiness; neither do the vicissitudes of life permit us to attain it except at rare moments,” said psychoanalyst Richard O’Connor. “But we push ourselves to be cheery, to present a false front of emotions that we feel somehow expected to sustain. This guarantees further disappointment.” Researchers at Manchester Metropolitan University even came up with an equation for how down people will feel when they return from a holiday.

Ordinary life can feel a bit bland when it’s directly contrasted with the spectacle of rare celestial happenings or big life events: “No rain, no rainbows.”

MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).