r/NYCC • u/martinez722 • 6h ago
Anxiety & FOMO at NYCC
Hi everyone! Long time NYCC attendee (M 26 & this will mark my 10th year attending....AHHHH)!!! Never had this problem early on because I was a high-schooler without the full-on mental ailments yet but....over the last years, we've had some consistent mental hurdles arrive.
I've found to have the consistent problem stemming from the overstimulation of the event + wanting to maximize my experience. It's no secret there's always some REALLY COOL SH*T every single to either purchase, pick up, or even go watch. The last time I went 3-4 days to the con, I'd make it the habit of making sure my butt was in one of the first two chutes during pre-entering. There were a few times I didn't even know why I was doing but I ended up FINDING a reason while on line to chase after one of the exclusives at one of the more prominent booths. It felt like if I didn't go after something or maximize my time there, the convention (and the cost I paid to attend) would be a waste. On the opposite end, I'd also have cases where even though I pick one exclusive to go after, my brain couldn't compute & would try to have me accomplish picking up TWO exclusives or doing the impossible and trying to juggle/achieve more than just getting the one exclusive.
Even then, I'd sometimes feel guilty any time I wasn't on the show-floor because I always had this innate feeling I would be missing something cool, whether it was a giveaway, another exclusive running out of stock, or a chance to "get a wristband to something later on". If it's not obvious, the FOMO is real and I feel like I harbor a lot on what I don't have. Even then, I'd found myself going in circles on the show floor, even if I've decided there's nothing else I want to buy right now....but it always feels like I need to make myself "available" to buy? Because something might pop up and I might miss it!
This year, I'm hoping to do my best and pace myself, especially since I bought the 4-day pass for this one (tried 2 days last year and something felt WAY too short about it, but that's another convo lol). There are def things I'm planning to hit each day at the moment:
- Thursday - Konosuke Takeshita's autograph session & hopefully Marvel TV panel
- Friday - Uncharted trio autographs & potentially the Common Side Effects panel
- Saturday - Godzilla Panel hopefully!
- Sunday - Danny Pudi signing
(As with all the other times I've attended, I'm ready for the schedule to fill up quickly with cool things I'm gonna want to explore)
Now the main questions & help I'm seeking: what are people's tips when it comes to overstimulation, battling FOMO, and more specifically for my OCD-family out there, trying your best to not lock-in on something that's not worth locking onto.
Furthermore, one of my hopes is to be able to leave the con earlier than normal on 1-2 of these days (especially since I'm going all 4 days) and not feel like I should be maximizing my experience by lingering. There are so many times in the past where I felt like I could have left but my maximizing-problem ends up wrecking me!
.....and please be nice? Just looking for help, advice, and trying to have a good time at the convention this year! IT'S ALMOST TIME AHHH!!!!
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u/Tammy_Tangerine 1h ago
long time nycc attendee as well. my philosophy has always been: yes, i will 100% miss something really cool. i know that going in before the con even starts.
however!
the reason i missed something cool is because i was doing other cool stuff.
so at the end of the day, did i really miss out? not really.
also, for me at least, the hype of the con kinda goes away a few days after its over. so whatever fomo i had was like: well the cons over, i can’t go back in time to do stuff, but i had fun anyway so maybe everything worked out.
just don’t think too hard about it all and be east on yourself!
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u/NoLibrarian5149 54m ago
My crew used to go all four days and we would still miss seeing things we’d read about afterwards or not be able to get into certain panels. We’d see photos of awesome cosplayers we never saw or find out certain celebrity’s were wandering around the showroom floor in disguise or whatever. We would never try to get exclusives so that’s just another level of stress we didn’t need.
We’re well into double digit year attendance now.
The past few years we just go Sat and Sun so we know we’re missing good stuff (Thursdays used to be good days just to wander and soak it all in before it got nuts).
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u/Cinnamaker 5h ago
People tend to overdo things when they travel. They feel compelled to see, eat, and experience everything in one trip, so they pack everything into the itinerary. Rick Steves has a good philosophy about this: don't try to see everything in one trip. You'll be back.
I think the same applies to NYCC. FOMO is getting fixated on what you're missing rather than savoring what you're enjoying. There's always going to be something bigger, better to chase after - it never ends.
I can get very caught up in trying to do everything at a con. But over the years, I've thought about what was actually most meaningful and memorable to me. Now I focus my efforts on those things instead of constantly chasing the next thing.
There's no easy fix for FOMO. It takes work to figure out why you feel that way and address what's behind it. Maturing and growing up is learning to make better decisions. You don't have to maximize the con. You just have to enjoy it.