It is important to learn to properly manage our primary emotions; In this way we can have a clearer picture of how the situations in our lives affect us. And in relation to this, sadness is one of the basic emotions that can wreak significant havoc on us.
In this article Let’s see how to manage sadness so that this does not become a problem in our lives nor can it significantly affect our quality of life. We will also review the concept of this primary emotion.
Before seeing how to manage sadness, it is important to know what it is about. As we have seen before, sadness is one of the primary emotions that human beings experience. This is characterized by states of anguish, melancholy and discomfort when some situation is unpleasant for us.
Sadness, like the rest of the emotions, can vary in intensity, depending on a series of personal and environmental factors.
It is natural for all of us to feel sad from time to time; The problem is when the states of sadness become too intense and long-lasting which can bring the subject to the brink of an anxiety crisis or mood disorders such as depression.
The following list is made up of a series of recommendations aimed at managing sadness in daily life.
1. Identify the emotion
The main thing to achieve adequate management of sadness is to achieve identify how we are feeling at that moment
Sometimes emotions are confusing, and make us doubt. What we must do is establish that what we are feeling is sadness and not anger or frustration.
2. Determine the reason for the emotion
Once you have established that sadness overwhelms you, it will be time to find the reason for that emotion That is, find the trigger for sadness. This will require being truly honest with yourself.
To do this, we need to ask ourselves key questions. For example; Am I avoiding what bothers me? Am I really doing what I like? What exactly is making me feel bad? By answering these questions you will be able to clarify the situation.
3. Establish everything when it happens
It is crucial to establish the intensity of the sadness in order to know if it is becoming a problem, or if it is an issue that we can consider within the parameters of normality. To do this, we must be attentive to how many times during the day we feel sad or discouraged.
If the feeling persists for many days in a row, we could be facing a mood problem (it is best to seek professional help), but if it is sporadic states, we may have to try to solve the specific cause of those states. of sadness.
Another important aspect to managing sadness is to see to what extent it is tolerable to us; In the most intense cases the subject could not bear the feeling of sadness and would be affected by one or more anxiety or panic attacks during the course of the month.
On the other hand, when they are less intense cases, the person will be able to restore their emotional stability using only their own means, in an appropriate way. Normally, we are able to tolerate a certain degree of sadness and frustration throughout our lives.
5. Understand sadness as something temporary
The way we perceive our emotions determines the way they affect us. If we insist that most of the things that happen to us are sad or unpleasant, then most likely we will live immersed in that negative state of mind
Quite the opposite happens when we are aware that sadness is a temporary state of mind, and that we will eventually feel better than we do when we are discouraged.
6. See sadness as an agent of change
Most people understand sadness as something completely negative for their lives. While it is true that it is an unpleasant emotion, it is also It is a powerful agent of change for certain situations
Let’s look at the following example. When we find ourselves going through a breakup, it is natural that a feeling of sadness and restlessness invades us. But as time passes we internalize that sadness as an enriching experience, which makes us grow as people.
After a while, the sadness will be gone, and we will be left with a feeling of calm and the ability to look at the past in a more objective and serene way. As a consequence of sadness we have become stronger compared to how we were before going through that experience.
7. Find the antidote to your sadness
It is true that There are no magic formulas that can make us feel better from one moment to the next but if we follow all the previous steps, we will have reached a conception of our sadness that will allow us to find the necessary tools to overcome it.
Taking up a hobby without the desire to be the best at it, just doing it to enjoy doing it, can be an effective way to combat our feeling of sadness and replace it with one of personal enjoyment.
8. Attend therapy
If none of the previous recommendations manage to reduce the negative emotions of sadness in you, and despite all attempts a bittersweet taste of not having achieved what you wanted prevails, it is best to attend therapy with a psychotherapy professional who will be able to properly evaluate you and offer psychological treatment.
