What to do when you are sad? How can we help a sad person? Discover what to do when you feel sad or how to comfort yourself or others.
We have all been sad at one time or another. In fact, it is normal for you to feel sad and alone in different situations. But, if you are next to a sad person or you don’t know what to do to regain joy in your day, here we will show you some tips that you can follow to be able to let go of these negative feelings.
How to comfort a sad person?
If you like help or know how to comfort someone who is sad or you are in this situation where you see everything in black, you can follow the following tips to lift your spirits:
- End rumination: Rumination is about constantly being stuck in the same negative thoughts or worries about things that could go wrong in the future. In many cases, rumination is one of the symptoms of depression, so if you tend to be sad and experience it often, perhaps you are facing a case of this disorder. If you want to stop rumination, a key tip will be to try to involve your body and mind in some activity that is intense enough so that you cannot think about these ideas even for a few minutes. For example, you can try doing intense exercise or taking a shower with very cold water. This does not mean avoiding negative emotions, since not facing them will make them return with greater intensity. At some point, after making a stop, you should give yourself space to think more calmly about these thoughts and propose possible solutions.
- Imagine a bright future : If something sad has happened to you, it is normal that you end up thinking about that bad thing that could happen in the future. In these cases when are you sad or want to comfort someone If you are in this situation, it is important that you try not to think or avoid these types of worries. Instead, try to imagine a bright future, even for a few moments. Even if you think about it for just a moment, this exercise can help your brain get over a sad feeling. Therefore, if you don’t know what to do when you are depressed, with this small effort by imagining a spectacular future you can leave sadness behind.
- Practice mindfulness: Sometimes sad people You experience this emotion because you feel disconnected from the present moment. This happens because our mind has a tendency to be either in the future or in the past, something that can contribute to feeling sadder if done in excess. Mindfulness is about paying attention to your negative emotions and trying to approach them with curiosity rather than judgment.
- Try cognitive reappraisal: Reevaluation is a strategy that aims to regulate emotions. In it, we try to reinterpret or see a situation from another perspective to try to find the positive side. In this way, to reconfront someone who is sad or to know how to remove sadness seeing what we should be grateful for in an instant can help us let go of the negative thoughts associated with it.
- Increases serotonin : Low serotonin is linked to sad people and with depression. Therefore, a good strategy to know what to do when you are very sad is to try to increase our serotonin. For example, playing our favorite comedy series, listening to music that we love, as well as doing physical exercise will help us increase our serotonin levels and let go of a sad feeling.
- Avoid sugar : Although we all crave sugar or greasy foods, the reality is that when You’re sad These types of foods contribute to feeling worse. In fact, sugar is not only bad for our physical health, but it is also bad for our mental health. This does not mean leaving sugar aside, since we all need it to function specifically, but bingeing on this food causes a sudden increase and a drastic decrease in our body, which causes emotional worsening.
- Don’t get obsessed with your sad feelings: It is normal that when a person is sad become obsessed with these types of negative feelings and thoughts. But worrying about being sad can make it worse. Therefore, the best way to know how to help a sad person or what to do when you are down is precisely to try to focus more on the actions you can take to let go of this sadness instead of concentrating on these thoughts.
- Try to think of a positive idea : Positive emotions are like a lifesaver when a person is sad Therefore, creating even one positive emotion can help you let go of this sadness or comfort a person who feels this way. To create this moment of positivity you can think of a happy memory or practice gratitude for what you have achieved or have. Another option is to spend time with friends, walk through nature or read a book that hooks you.
- Get off the phone: Nowadays our telephone has become an essential complement to our daily lives. But if you want know how to remove sadness and a sad thought, it is important to put this device aside. In fact, spending too much time on social networks or the internet is associated with having a greater risk of experiencing depression and a feeling of loneliness.
- Change your internal dialogue : If you are sad and want to end this thought, you can challenge your self-critical thoughts and be more compassionate with yourself.
- Create a plan: One of the best actions What can a sad person do? And what helps you know how to comfort someone around you is to write a plan to overcome the sadness you are experiencing. For example, if you are sad about your financial situation, you can think about how you will try to change and improve it.
Sadness is a completely normal emotion that we can feel at any time in our lives. But when be sad becomes an everyday occurrence, perhaps we are facing a more serious problem. In these cases, the help of a mental health professional will help you resolve this negative and overwhelming feeling.