Search
Close this search box.

What is Sadness?

Understanding Sadness

Sadness is an instinctive emotion triggered by loss of someone, something, even the end of an era or empathy for another person’s loss. It is a natural emotion that should relieve itself over time. You may have lost a relationship, or someone close to you or had bad news from someone close to you. 

 

How to deal with sadness? 

There is truth to the saying that ‘time is a great healer’ and giving yourself time is a great way to cope with sadness. Reaching out to friends for comfort, exercising, finding funny distractions such as music or films can help alleviate sadness. According to a scientific study (Garg, Wansink & Inman, 2007), when you are sad, you tend to want to eat more fatty or tasty foods. 

 

How to help someone who is sad

When someone you know is sad, exercising empathy towards their situation is important by offering to listen to them. Even if you do not entirely understand their situation, being heard helps. Once you have listened, a light distraction may offer temporary relief. You will find that someone who is sad has little energy and is distracted. Offering to help with your time or gently encouraging them to go out or to exercise or energize with the arts can help. 

 

Why does sadness turn to anger? 

There are recognised stages of grief and sadness though not all emotion scientists agree on the sequence. With sadness, comes denial and anger, first recognised in five stages of grief by Swiss-American psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross. Sadness can be caused by a tragedy such as the death of someone very young and close to you. A natural reaction in this case is to feel anger and shock before accepting the sadness. Your world order has been challenged, you may be feeling vulnerable and to protect yourself, your natural instincts drive you to anger. 

 

How to express sadness

Sadness is an instinctive emotion, which is temporary. The first stage can be overwhelming, confusing and mixed with other emotions such as shock and anger and it may be necessary for you to take some time for yourself before being able to express your emotion to others. Writing down your thoughts can help express sadness or listening to your favourite music, being creative or exercising if you are more physically inclined, can help.  Once you yourself are clear in your own mind, it is important to be specific to another person, to talk in terms of ‘I’ which avoids a cycle of blame and negative reactions. 

 

What colour represents sadness?

Sadness is often seen as dark, as black or gray. Think of how dark gray skies make you feel or the colours at a Western funeral. The colours are often muted in artistic representation of sadness. 

 

Why is sadness important? 

Sadness is an instinctive human emotion, hard wired into our body, mind and soul over thousands of years. It is an important mechanism to cope with loss and change, an inevitable part of human life. It can be a motivator to take action for change. In a sad mood, scientists Joseph P. Forgas and colleagues have discovered that judgment is better and people have more concern for others. 

 

Which eye do tears of sadness come from? 

Tears are instinctively activated in sadness and flow from both eyes. Scientific theories focus on how tears activate your parasympathetic nervous system, responsible for a resting state of the body or as a mechanism for washing out the excess cortisol (stress) hormone that is released into your body in high stress times.

Sadness: disappointment, sorrow, anguish, discouragement, misery, anguish

Sadness is a sense of loss of something or someone or empathy for others loss.

Sadness is an instinctive emotion triggered by loss of someone, something, even the end of an era or empathy for another’s loss. Your body can shed tears and your soul be is as dark as night. 

For more information about Sadness you might be interested in these other articles:

What is sadness? Understanding Sadness / Sadness Explained 

How does your body react to Sadness?

How does your mind react to Sadness?

How does your soul react to Sadness?

What hormones are connected to Sadness?