We are approximately 220 days away from the kickoff of the 2024 college football season. Have you heard of Seasonal Affective Disorder? Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a type of depression that comes and goes with the seasons, typically starting in the late fall and early winter and going away during the spring and summer. Here in the world of college football, we have FAD, or Football Affective Disorder as more people realize they suffer from it. We have discussed this in past seasons, and due to the seriousness of it, we feel it bears repeating.
Football Affective Disorder – Signs, Symptoms, and Treatment
This author is convinced, that I suffer from FAD It occurs when your football team is finished playing for the season. I first noticed it when I was coaching football; I would become depressed for about a month after the season as I readjusted back to non-football life. And now that college football is done for the season, I am feeling the effects of FAD, again. So, I am curious if others suffer from this same disease.
Football Affective Disorder (FAD) fans experience depression coinciding with the post-football season. Bowl season is over. The playoffs are over. Coaches are retiring or being fired. New coaches are being hired. The transfer portal opens back up for 30 days after a coach leaves a school. Not to mention the conference realignments. It is mass chaos in the college football post-season. You need a spreadsheet to track everyone’s movements from school to school and conference to conference.
Signs and Symptoms of F.A.D
- Feeling depressed nearly every day for the first month in the postseason.
- Feeling lost with no weekend game activities to look forward to.
- Wearing your gameday lucky outfit as often as possible trying to recapture the joy of game day.
- Rewatching DVR’d games at least once a day.
- Having problems getting excited about other sports.
- Experiencing changes in your voice, which has finally recovered from a season of cheering.
- Having frequent thoughts of the 2023 season.
- Studying the 2024 schedule and daydreaming about which games you can attend.
- Reading all the recruiting information you can.
- Google alerts and or ESPN breaking news notifications are set so you are in the know the minute anything happens.
If you are experiencing any one or a combination of these symptoms, you could be suffering from FAD Although it is not a life-threatening disease, it is a serious disorder that affects your life. Your friends may or may not understand your depression. They will say “It is just a game”. Any true college football fan will tell you with extreme passion how it is so much more than “just a game”.
Risk Factors for FAD
Attributes that may increase your risk of FAD include:
- Being an alumnus: FAD is diagnosed four times as often.
- Being a parent: FAD is hard for the parents of players as well. They invest so much of their time into the season. Their saving grace is having other kids involved in other sports during the football offseason.
- Family history. People with a family history of fandom are more likely to develop FAD than people who do not have a family history of fandom.
- Living far from the team. FAD is more frequent in people who live farther away from their team. So, that itch to go to a football game is at an all-time high. Did you ever think you would miss the weekly travel that left you exhausted at the end of the football season?
Treatments and Therapies
There are FIVE major types of treatment for F.A.D.:
- DVR: LOTS of DVR’d football games from the last season or even the last few seasons.
- Conference-Specific Networks: They are almost always replaying football games in between current season sports.
- Countdown: Start a countdown to kick off for next season. Watching the number dwindle is oddly satisfying.
- Recruiting: Check out your team’s new signees. This should help ease some of the FAD symptoms.
- Reading: Reading ALL the college football coverage you can from multiple sites including Last Word on College Football.
These may be used alone or in combination.
DVR
You know you have the past season saved on your DVR. As well as the last several seasons. Watch as many games as possible. Have them on in the background as you do stuff around the house. The sounds of your team playing will help soothe you. Those games will start to fill the emptiness you are feeling. Only watch the games your team WON. This will help fill the void faster.
Conference Specific Networks
Now is the time to invest in the sports package with your TV provider if you haven’t already. Or find the best ways to stream the few conference-specific networks before all the conferences implode. There is a multitude of old games on that you can watch, DVR, and rewatch. This will help you survive FAD, and you will even get to watch Spring football games. That will be here before you know it.
Countdown
With the invention of smartphones, there is an app for everything. There are several countdown apps. Pick your favorite and start a countdown to kick off for the first game next season. Also, start a countdown to Spring football. This will be a guesstimate, but start a countdown until your team announces their Spring schedule. You can readjust as needed. It is very satisfying to watch the day’s countdown.
Recruiting
Don’t forget to follow your team’s new players on Twitter and Instagram. Watch their highlight reels on Hudl. You can overanalyze where you think they will make the biggest impact on your team in the 2024 season. This is a godsend for fans who suffer from FAD.
Read Absolutely Everything
There is plenty to read about in the off-season. Since Michigan won the national championship there have been a bazillion big stories. Including the retirement of Nick Saban and the death of the Pac-12 just to name a few. Stay tuned right HERE as we will have all the coverage you need to help combat FAD.
Keep Your Head Up
If you are experiencing any one or a combination of these symptoms, you could be suffering from FAD. Although it is not a life-threatening disease, it is a serious disorder that affects your life. Your friends may or may not understand your depression. They might laugh at you as you work through your FAD treatments. You have to keep pushing through. Read up on the 2024 schedule and start planning your travel for the upcoming season. Check out your new head and assistant coaches. Be sure to get to know your new signees. Spring ball is approximately 60-75 days away. Also, it is never too early to start perfecting those tasty tailgate treats. You have got this, you can handle the off-season.
