Werewolves and the full moon, and then...?

[Svrtnsse]

Time for an open-ended question here: do werewolves get post-lunar depression, and what does that even mean?

I've got some ideas I'm toying around with, but I want to see what the hivemind thinks.

 

[Orc Knight]

Depression and exhaustion from the changes, leaving them in a funk. Not sure if your werewolves are the four legged kind or the wolfman kind (sorry, I'm sure you told me, but have forgotten). So, once the full moon goes away, they miss the wolf and are really, really freaking tired. That's what I got for you.

 

[DragonOfTheAerie]

I'd imagine transforming would be incredibly taxing on every system of the body.

 

[Demesnedenoir]

I prefer my werewolves by old time standards, nothing modern... but, post snarfing human prey depression might work, heh heh. PTSD for werewolves... PEHSD- Post Eating Humans Stress Disorder, not too mention a craving for Tums.

 

[Yora]

Werewolves are about giving in to extreme emotion and acting on instinct without thinking. For some people this would probably an exausting or even traumatising experience. However, it could also be seen as being freed from repressed anger and once there's been some time to recover from the strain, the person might actually feel a lot better. As long as the anger and anxiety exist, the transformation might even be craved, making the person more restless and irritated as the ext full moon approaches.

 

[Gryphos]

I do really like the idea of exploring the post-werewolf psychological baggage. Like Yora said, you could conceptualise the turning as giving into primal, Id-like, bestial instinct. In which case, the period after such an incident could be a period of the exact opposite, a punishment by the superego-like, shameful aspects of the mind. The full moon says: "Look what you could do!" The new moon says: "Look what you did!" Loads of cool psychological angles to take.

 

[valiant12]

In some stories the werewolfs forget what were they doyng during fullmoon. I think this can be wery depresing in its own way. Imagine waking up in the middle of nowhere with no memory of how you get there.

If you aim for more realisam in a werewolf storys maybe you shold examine the health effect of the transformation. A normal human being transforming into a hulking beastman shold have a negative effect on that person's healt.

 

[DragonOfTheAerie]

In some stories the werewolfs forget what were they doyng during fullmoon. I think this can be wery depresing in its own way. Imagine waking up in the middle of nowhere with no memory of how you get there.

...covered in blood.

 

[Orc Knight]

And if they're lucky, it's just chicken blood.

 

[Svrtnsse]

Thanks for the comments everyone, and my apologies for just posting the thread and then not getting back to it.

I'm a bit short on time to go into full details on what I'm working on at the moment, but I'll get back to this thread later in the week. Thanks again for all the comments.

And if they're lucky, it's just chicken blood.

It's not chicken blood.

 

[SMAndy85]

Werewolves are my favourite mythological beings ever.
One possibility is that the freedom of running wild is a great stress reliever, so immediately after the full moon, they are completely chilled out, which lasts until the new moon.

Some myths around them suggest their power waxes and wanes with the moon cycle, so this chilled out feeling could last until the new moon, at which point they feel weak, and start feeling edgy, and on the look out for predators. anxiety rises towards the full moon again, when it is released during the transformation. The reasoning behind this could be that when instinct kicks in and the conscious mind recedes, they go after whatever made them feel anxious during the new moon, allowing them to feel calm and stress-free post transformation.

That is, assuming the werewolf has no control over their actions in wolf mode.

 

[Svrtnsse]

The way the werewolves work in my setting, the bestial aspect takes over during the night of the full moon. The there's a varying degree to how strong the takeover is. Some werewolves have a large degree of control, while others have none at all. It varies from individual to individual, and also depends on the nature of the bestial aspect.

What's common is that the degree of takeover grows during the night, until the human mind is pushed out completely and is no longer aware of what's going on. At some point, the human mind's memory cuts out and when they wake up the morning after they no longer remember what happened or what they did during the night.

However, these memories come back at a later time, perhaps a few hours or a few days, or perhaps even weeks after. It's not certain when, but it will happen eventually.

Another aspect of therianthropy is that the bestial aspect of the afflicted lives as a separate being within their mind. It's got a will of its own and it's got its own ideas of what's a good way to handle everyday situations. Some terries are on good terms with their bestial aspects, while others are not.
My male protagonist, Roy, is a good friend of his inner beast, while Alene, my female protagonist, doesn't get along with hers at all.
Alene has to be always on guard against her inner beast. It constantly tries to take over, and at some point in her life it will eventually succeed (as it will only grew stronger with age.

The time of the moon is where Alene is forced out of her own mind and by the beast, and she becomes nothing but a passenger in the beasts body, looking out through its eyes. This is an unpleasant experience in its own right, but it's also pretty much the only time her mind can relax and she doesn't have to be on guard against her bestial aspect. It's the only rest she ever gets.

I'm thinking that in a case like that it would be quite natural if she were to feel a bit down after the moon passes. She had a little bit of rest, but it was over all too soon, and now there's another miserable month to wait until next time.

Roy on his end doesn't have this problem. His issue is mainly that he doesn't know what he did the morning after, and he's worrying he might have done something bad, but usually that's unlikely to have been the case. He can still get a bit moody, but not close to the same level Alene does.

On top of that there may be effects such as how much energy is needed for the body to shift in and out of the bestial shape, and how much energy is expended during the night of the moon. I'm thinking there are plenty of reasons for someone to feel a bit down after the full moon passes.

However, there may also be those that have the opposite experience and who see the moon as an uplifting and invigorating experience.

 

[SMAndy85]

Then I think you should play on that, and not have a set of symptoms that they all suffer. It's different for each human and each beast, and partly dependent on their relationship. It would make it more believable if people have different ways of coping, much like different people suffer differently with the same cold that goes around.

 

[Litlhulk]

What about female werewolves? The full moon and menstruation?