Cosplay events: Promoting Mental Health

Cosplay is a term coined a few decades ago but has been in practice since the 15th century. A combination of two words: ‘costume’ and ‘play’ is otherwise popularly the essence of fancy dress parties/competitions. The essence being, a representation of a favorite fictional character through their unique style of clothing and accessories. Cosplay costumes are more or less the same, fictional characters from various sources like movies, books, cartoons, television, video games, anime, etc. It is often a very bold-looking costume with heavy makeup and unique costumes. One of the favorite themes of cosplay gatherings is gothic/dark characters, where most of them are either scary characters or evil protagonists from a world of fantasy.

As much as it has been disregarded as just a form of entertainment or extravaganza, it comes with a load of benefits that serve as a source of encouragement for people of all ages to try their hands at cosplay.

Mental Health Benefits of Cosplay:

1. Enhances creativity:

The first thing one needs to do to attend a cosplay gathering is to design his/her required costume. This is generally a long process since there will be a whole list of accessories one needs to find to imitate certain characters. Costumes can be bought, stitched, or just put together with pieces of clothing that they already own. So choosing the right accessories to match with their sorted-out costumes and dress well on the day of the event with necessary makeup creates a sense of creativity. If the people in the gathering recognize the character without having to reveal it, it indicates a win for creativity and aesthetics from the person’s side.

2. Boosts self-esteem: 

Dressing up is always something that lifts the mood of a person. Especially when it is an imitation of a favorite character, needless to say, the person is immediately overjoyed. Self-esteem and confidence are the outcomes of a happy, satisfied outlook towards oneself. It is said that most women in Australia have low self-esteem, which in most cases is caused by body-shaming. Overcoming such issues need an initiating step and this could be one such.

3. Cultivates a sense of belonging/community:

Cosplay gatherings can be a great place for feeling one with the community. It consists of several people who exhibit mutual interests, thus making even introverts extensively comfortable as they already know that they belong in this group. Conversations can be very simple as they can initiate by just recognizing one’s costume and can gradually ease into the details of the character, why the person chose it, etc.

4. Day-to-day stress reduction:

These gatherings are also something that a person can look forward to amidst otherwise busy schedules. The fact that prior preparation is required to participate in such dressing events opens the scope of dedicating a few minutes of one’s day to decide on and sort out their costumes, thus allocating time off from work and other responsibilities.

5. Inspiration/Coping mechanism:

It can also be seen as a source of inspiration when the fictional character chosen to replicate has fought injustice, overcome trauma, etc., for people experiencing similar life situations. This can be a person’s way of coping with the situation and initiating hope towards happiness and growth.  

Cosplay costumes and fancy dress competitions are largely associated with children or for everyone just during Halloween, the above benefits listed must be a boost for having more such events. People of all ages will find it to be a source of unexpected joy and happiness.