I’m a 20-year-old guy and something weird has happened to me over the last 3 years, and I honestly don’t know what’s going on. I used to be able to watch anime, read comics, dive into shows, whatever and just enjoy them like a normal person. Heavy themes, silly stuff, fanservice, action, romance, loss, anything. None of it ever messed with my day to day life.
Now? Every time I watch or read something, my brain flips into this overthinking mode I can’t turn off. I start reading between the lines too much, taking scenes personally, and putting myself in the position of whatever character is getting humiliated, mistreated, ignored, or emotionally hit with rough themes. It’s like I become the character without meaning to. Even scenes I would’ve enjoyed years ago now sting in this weird emotional way. I don’t know if it’s hyper-identification, overstimulation, dopamine burnout, or all of the above, but it’s ruining the whole experience.
And the worst part is the flashbacks. Random scenes pop into my head during the day, and they derail me completely during studying, during workouts, sometimes even during normal conversations. It’s not that the scenes are inherently bad, everyone likes what they like, I don’t mind it, I just wanna enjoy the art or the story. It’s that my brain tags them as “emotionally relevant” and then replays them like intrusive thoughts. I hate it.
Anyway.. I decided to cut out anime, comics, games, and social media for 30 days to reset things. Even now my brain keeps throwing these scenes at me like it’s begging for stimulation. I’m just trying to break the cycle, but it’s honestly exhausting. Is this dopamine overload? Anxiety? Over-identification? Something else entirely?
I just want to be able to enjoy the things I used to enjoy without spiraling or taking everything personally and so emotionally difficult for myself.
~Any guidance or insight would help a lot 🙌~