Sadness, what to do when we are sad?
When we feel sad, a black cloud is installed on our heads, we see everything with a grayish tone, we are not able to see the positive side of life since we are too focused on complaining about the bad things that are happening to us. Also, if someone asks us how our answers are, it will almost always be a "good", "pulling" or a "here we go".
The truth is that we can not recognize sadness and melancholy before others, we do not like to say that we are wrong, sad, downcast ... it seems as if being sad were a sign of weakness.
What are emotions?
Emotions are the result of how we physically and mentally experience our internal world with our external world and express them through behaviors, feelings and physiological changes.
It is true that basic emotions such as joy, sadness, anger * are universal, however the feelings are more personal because these influence our character, personality, motivation, etc. Emotions help us to solve problems, to create, to exchange with others.
What is sadness?
Sadness is an emotion characterized by a negative feeling that appears when we feel we have lost or failed in something important for us or when we live in adverse situations.
A sad person is characterized by having low spirits, a feeling of emptiness, lack of hope, feeling of loneliness, fatigue, lack of motivation and expression is crying.
When we are sad changes occur at all levels, cognitive, physiological and behavioral.
1. At the cognitive level: our way of thinking changes and we are invaded by negative thoughts such as "I will never overcome this", "the worst always happens", etc.
2. Physiologically: the crying appears, the expression of our face changes, we lose our appetite and sleep worse.
3. At the behavioral level: we find ourselves unwilling to do anything, we stop performing everyday tasks, we feel unmotivated to carry out activities.
When we feel sad it is easy for us to separate ourselves from others, we hide in ourselves. We have all felt sad on occasion, it is a normal emotion. However, when sadness sets in our lives permanently, when the emotions we feel are too intense and prevent us from enjoying the good things that life has, when there is nothing that motivates us, we are less and less willing to do things, we must be alert, because extreme sadness leads to depression.
What is the sadness for?
People are emotional beings and each of the emotions, whether positive or negative, fulfills a function.
Sadness is considered a negative emotion, we tend to hide it and not want to show it to others. However, sadness plays a very important role in our lives.
- Sadness allows us to find ourselves, reflect, analyze the adverse situation and help us readjust, adapt to the new situation, ultimately helps us learn.
- It helps us connect with others, When we meet a loved one that is wrong, we see him sad, not wanting anything, apathetic, immediately awakens in us a need to help him, to make him feel better, to support him and accompany him, this is because the sadness it allows us to tune in with other people, it serves as a signal to give and receive comfort and support from our loved ones.
What can we do when we are sad?
Socially we do not allow ourselves to be sad, we do not like to be seen crying, it seems that everything has to be wonderful and that we should not let anything make us feel bad. Some tips to overcome sadness are:
1. Recognize that we are sad, that something has hurt us and allow us to be like this. Only when we recognize our situation are we able to solve them.
2. Stay busy. Take up all the activities that you have left aside and even look for new ones, set new goals and go for them !, movement leads to movement.
3. Look for relief. Even if you're not well, do things that make you feel better like talking to a friend, eating your favorite ice cream, put on your favorite song, take time.
Rocío Navarro Psychologist Director of Psicolari, integral psychology
