The 10 things that generate anxiety in cosplayers

Cosplay, experienced as a cosplayer, has always given us many emotions, positive in most cases; such as the satisfaction of having completed with our hands a suit, an armor, an important accessory, a scenography, or having put together a costume that we wanted so much to make, and the joy of being able to go to a fair or an event to show it off, take lots of photos and share our passion with others.

But often what gives happiness as a result, is the result of fatigue, suffering, moments of despair, and above all anxieties! This is because, not only is every person generally critical of himself, but he certainly has fears to keep at bay, and expectations that sometimes he cannot satisfy, especially when that feeling that we hate so much, called anxiety, takes over! >
Anxiety is not always and necessarily a negative feeling; sometimes it is a useful alarm bell to identify exactly the things we care about most, what worries us and what creates in us that adrenaline that sends us forward by continuing to fight to achieve our goals, small or large.

For this, we have taken a sample of a few thousand Italian cosplayers and together with them we have compiled a ranking of the 10 things that generate anxiety in cosplayers!

Let's see them together!

The 10 things that generate anxiety in cosplayers

Social anxiety Toilet anxiety The journey of Speransia Time is tyranny Stage anxiety Where to leave your luggage Generalized unexpected anxiety Weather anxiety Disruption of cosplay Forget anxiety

Social anxiety

From the survey it emerged that in many cosplayers anxiety is generated by social factors, such as the fear of being criticized, of being subjected to body shaming, of to be told that they seem to have come out of a carnival, or ultimately not to receive the deserved appreciation for their work, with compliments and photos.

Most of the time a cosplayer decides to play a character wearing the costume at the fair he does it to look for other fans of the series, appreciation for their work, and a sense of aggregation. If these fail, the disappointment is enormous, and generally leaves room for a sense of loneliness, which should not exist in an activity like this where the importance of the community should be a fundamental concept.

A this is added the anxiety of being afraid of not being able to spend enough time with the people you meet at the fair, of not recognizing them by passing by by chance, ending up looking rude, of losing them around in the crowd and not get together until the event is over.

Toilet Anxiety

Getting to the toilets, even queuing up for your turn, is the least of all for the cosplayer who suffers from anxiety toilet! The real and only problem that arises between him and the coveted, but at the same time also hated, toilet is the custom; often cumbersome, difficult to disassemble on the fly, able to make this very simple activity a brigand process that clearly no one would hope to have to face at the fair.

Generally the cosplayer in the grip of toilet anxiety stops drinking any type of liquid from the moment he puts on the costume, praying his bladder that he has already given everything before performing this operation. Notoriously, carrying out one's functions in a public bathroom is difficult for anyone, thanks to the small spaces and sometimes the lack of cleanliness of the rooms.

Long clothes, wings, and armor of all kinds make this type of activity impossible, therefore the cosplayer will be forced to patiently remove the costume when he feels the need to go to the toilet, often asking for help from third parties, and then having to put it back on again once out of the bathroom. Toilet anxiety takes over right here, when his brain realizes that he will have to perform this annoying operation several times a day!

The journey of Speransia

Starting from everywhere to get to fair with trains, cars, buses and vehicles of any other type creates a terrible anxiety in the cosplayer. The questions it poses are many. If he finds parking but even before the right way to get to the event.

And while he asks himself these questions, he knows that he will have to do everything in a hurry with the deficit of wearing the typical tiredness of someone who has had to wake up at 4:00 in the morning to leave at 6:00 after 42 baggage checks and a journey that must necessarily make it arrive at the fair before the opening, before the parking spaces run out, the line becomes mileage and making him lose the morning. br>
From the survey it emerged that for many the journey to the fair is a cause for anxiety until it turns into adrenaline, since the clock collaborates by telling them that it is in perfect time and sees at least in the distance the building where the event is hosted.

Time is a tightrope

Not being able to finish your costume for a certain event is one of the greatest fears of any cosplayer. No matter how organized you are, or how ready for the unexpected, the unexpected may always be more ready than you!

Miscalculating the drying, packaging, or assembly times of the pieces can be a big obstacle for the cosplayer who is determined to finish on time the job he set out to exhibit at the fair the next day. Unfortunately, this ends up generating sleepless nights and huge disappointments.

Stage anxiety

In sixth place we find stage anxiety which includes not only the fear of performing in front of an audience or having to subject to the judgment of a jury made up of other cosplayers, but also the fear that something technically goes wrong in the performance, such as a malfunctioning track, an imperfect coordination with the other members on stage, the compromise of the scenography or of one's costumes and accessories on stage.

There is nothing worse than rehearsing a scene many times and seeing it go wrong, bringing with you the feeling of having made a bad impression or not having treated everything as you would have liked.

Where to leave your luggage

Any cosplayer will always have at least one piece of luggage with him, containing not only personal effects, but also his costume until he wears it, which will come later stop tuito inside the luggage with a change of clothes able to allow him to resume a "normal" and "civil" form at the end of the event.

Even the most daring cosplayer who decides to arrive already in cosplay from home, he knows for sure that he cannot not have even a handbag with him. The most ingenious create hidden pockets inside the costume, but those who have too much stuff to keep them on will be forced to go to the wardrobe, which is not always present in guarded mode.

Here at this moment the anxiety about the safe location of the luggage is making its way into the brain of the cosplayer, who throughout the fair will continue to hope to find all his possessions healthy and intact.

Generalized unexpected anxiety

In fourth position we find generalized unexpected anxiety, that is the cosplayer's fear that something in general could go wrong.

The survey showed that many cosplayers feel anxious when they arrive at the fair because they do not know what situation they will face, where the dressing rooms are, how many people will be in it and how long it will take them to prepare and run to register for the competition in the hope of having correctly brought all the documents and audio tracks they need.



The fear of arriving too late at the registration desk, and consequently of having to give up the race, is certainly the main reason for the type of anxiety described in this position one of the ranking.

Weather Anxiety

On the podium, in third position we find weather anxiety, or the fear of not knowing what climatic conditions it will be in on the day of the event.



This fear generates other anxieties in our cosplayer sample; such as the anxiety of getting sick from the cold, ruining the swimsuit in the rain, feeling bad under the sun, and for women that the date of the event coincides with that of their menstrual cycle.

Breaking of cosplay

After a lot of work, and a lot of effort, the worst thing that can happen to a cosplayer, even the most meticulous one who has carried out the beta test of the costume in his house for days, is that of the breaking of some piece of his cosplay.

Unfortunately, it often happens that in transport, or by bumping into someone in the crowd, having assembled pieces of the costume in a hurry, or with previously untested techniques, some part of the cosplay breaks in the middle of the fair. It's something as common as it is hated by cosplayers, which can invalidate an important competition, or even just a day of fun.

Forgetfulness

In first position, thanks to most votes it ranks forgetfulness! There is no cosplayer who has never forgotten, or risked forgetting a piece of their cosplay at home. According to the result of our survey, the greatest anxiety of a cosplayer is this!

But what can be seen from their answers, it is not just a matter of forgetting a piece at home, some have even confided to us that being terrified of leaving some bag containing cosplay pieces, or a well-packed weapon, on the train due to the hustle and bustle and chaotic situation that arises when you have an over-thinking head and a lot of luggage with you.

Our advice for cosplay anxiety sufferers is always the same: take it easy and have fun!