As opposed to the previous “Furry Thoughts” post, this is not a thought that has occurred to me during the course of my research, nor is it even related to my research. Instead was an idea that occurred to me through conversations with furries at Scotiacon in February 2024. I don’t really have a structure in mind for this piece, so it will be more free-form than academic in nature.
One thing that seems, from social media at least, to be universal experience of the furry fandom (aside from the fursona, of course) is the malaise that sets in during the days that follow a furry convention. This Post-con Depression (PCD) is spoken about widely in furry circles, and is a feeling I have experienced myself too; but conversations at Scotiacon 2024 led me to thinking about PCD and “why” this feeling occurs.
What is PCD?
Post-con depression, also known as PCD or Post-con syndrome, is a temporary mental condition that may occur in individuals near the end of or shortly after a furry convention or furmeet. The most common symptoms are typically psychosomatic and include depression, loss of appetite, insomnia, and in rare cases, headaches (WikiFur, 2024).
Why does this occur?
I’m not a doctor (yet), but I can take fairly educated guesses about this. There’s a myriad of potential causes for PCD that come to mind, and several that have been outlined by the WikiFur page on the condition; but the two that I would consider to be the greatest contributing factors would be feelings of safety within the spaces and the freedom of expression of the furry fandom.
In terms of feelings of safety, you could argue that it’s due to safety in numbers or being “around your people”; but I would hazard a guess that it’s a little deeper than that. Fur cons and furmeets both have set boundaries and temporality, so exist during a set time in a set space. Both will have moderation of some kind in the form of organisers for meets and teams like security, welfare, or Con-Ops for cons, who have the goal of keeping the attendees safe.
These measures of safety, along with the feelings of safety and comfort that come from being around friends, creates an arguable safe space for the participants. Coupled with this is that fur cons and furmeets are localised, intense experiences. This is less of a case with furmeets – which I believe fall more within the “expression” factor – but with fur cons the participants are often localised within the connected (or surrounding) hotels.
This experience creates a short-term furry space in which the participant can interact with friends, meet new people, and attend a variety of events within an enclosed and arguably “safe” environment. What’s more, this is a space that furries do not have to leave the boundaries of this space until the end of the con, so it is less fleeting of an experience than a coffee with friends and in a less inherently public space as often entire hotels are booked for fur cons.
Linked to this, the spaces of the fandom allow for a level of expression not often found in “real life” too. In these spaces furries often feel like they can be themselves, and that is a liberating experience. This is seen in both furmeets and fur cons and can be readily attached to the “safety” of the spaces, as these furries feel safe enough to be themselves away from elements of their lives that would not be so accepting.
Closing thoughts.
The important point to highlight in this discussion is that it’s not the attendance of these spaces that causes PCD, instead it is leaving them. The shift from these intense and fun environments back to “real life” provides a jarring change, resulting in PCD. Once the con or meet ends, they have to leave a space that they have the freedom to be unabashedly themselves in a relatively safe environment.
As a means of a conclusion, I believe that it’s this shift of safety that is the trigger point, although admittedly this would require a far greater and more thorough investigation than this article could achieve. What I would be interested to know, beyond this initial investigation, is whether PCD occurs in other communities and fandoms, or whether there’s something specific about furries that results in this condition, such as the isolated intensity of a fur con in comparison to other fandom spaces.
References
WikiFur (2023) Post-con depression, WikiFur: the free encyclopaedia written by and for furries [online]. Available at: <https://en.wikifur.com/wiki/Post-con_depression> [Accessed: 16th February 2024].
Chasing Tails: A Furry Research Blog 