Shrinks and therapists have some advice for sorrowful Mets fans: Don’t use booze to beat the blues.
Instead, one psychologist suggested the disappointed denizens of Shea draw a picture of a Yankees player, tear it up and flush the pieces down the toilet.
“That’s what we tell kids to do when they have nightmares about the bogeyman,” said Robert Butterworth, a Los Angeles psychologist.
Doris Wild Helmering, a psychotherapist and syndicated columnist from St. Louis, recommended Mets fans mourn a little and then forget the Amazin’s for a while.
“Some of the fans will feel a general malaise or sadness,” she said, “but feelings last for only three seconds unless we feed them with thoughts.”
One psychologist suggested falling back on the traditional strategy of old Brooklyn Dodgers fans.
“Think about next year – then, get over it,” said Patricia Farrell, a native New Yorker who runs a Web site called The Psychology Insider.
“Mets fans certainly have a great capacity to maintain hope.”
Parents of disappointed kids need to commiserate with their young Mets fans, but shouldn’t wallow in the grief.
Accepting loss is a part of growing up, Farrell said.
“You have to learn sometimes to be a good loser,” she said. “It’s good lesson for the kids.”
Parents should tell their kids: “Losing doesn’t mean that your team is not a very good team. They gave it their best try, but winning isn’t everything.”
Adults will may try to cope by shopping or drinking to excess, according to Helmering.
“They shouldn’t drown their sorrows in beer and alcohol,” Farrell agreed. “I don’t think that’s the way [to get over the loss].”
Butterworth offered a coping mechanism that may work for other towns but seems too bitter a pill for diehards to swallow.
He recommended Mets fans console themselves by repeating a mantra: “New York is still the winner.”