KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) -- It's not unusual that we feel depressed when our favorite sports team loses a game. It's how we deal with that depression that's important for our health.

It's already a few days after the Vols made the trip to Gainesville and lost a game most Tennessee fans were optimistic Big Orange was going to win, but still the feelings are raw for fans trying to cope with the loss.

"It really let me down," Vol fan Doug Freel said. "I mean, life goes on, but dang, I just wasn't as happy as I would have been if they would have won."

Mitch Thompson said it felt like a punch to the gut when the Gators kept their winning streak against the Vols alive.

"It puts a dampening on the whole week," he said.

It turns out, there has been a lot of study that has gone into how the winning and losing by our favorite sports team affects our mood and behavior. The mental health experts at Thriveworks in Knoxville said it's typical to see people get depressed after a tough loss.

"It's not just this emotional connection...It goes back to how you view you. This is something inherent in you. This is part of you, so when this isn't going good or things aren't good with it, things aren't good with you," Justin Hall, a counselor and psychotherapist with Thriveworks explained.

Hall said that people will typically identify with a sports team as a sense of belonging with something. He explained how sports are often used as a way to escape the routine of life, if only for a few hours, but can be dangerous if following a certain team is the only thing a person is focusing on.

"People that are affected by this are much more affected by it if the other areas of their life aren't going well," Hall said.

Hall added that people who get too attached to a team and become depressed by the losses will typically display traits of seclusion, a decreased work productivity, or less desire to engage in relationships. He said instead of focusing on the negative of a team's loss, find something positive in your life to focus on. He added it's healthier to let a sports team only be a small part of your life and not the main focus.

Some Vol fans understand and say they try to only let the loss affect them for a day or two, but then it's time to move on.

"Monday I'm over it. I'm ready for the next week after that," Ethan Cleveland said.

Thompson echoed that and said he tries to look ahead to the next week's game and focus on playing a new team and the positive that comes from that.

But that doesn't mean it's easy to sit there and watch your favorite team suffer against one of its greatest rivals.

"It's a serious punch in the gut, to say the least to not be able to do anything but just kind of watch," Thompson said.