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Sadness
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Contents
A detail of the 1672 sculpture
1 Childhood Entombment of Christ, showing
2 Neuroanatomy Mary Magdalene crying
3 Coping mechanisms
4 Pupil empathy
5 Cultural explorations
6 See also
7 References
8 Further reading
Childhood
Sadness is a common experience in childhood. Some families may have a (conscious or
unconscious) rule that sadness is "not allowed",[3] but Robin Skynner has suggested that this may
cause problems, arguing that with sadness "screened off", people can become shallow and manic.[4]
Pediatrician T. Berry Brazelton suggests that acknowledging sadness can make it easier for families
to address more serious emotional problems.[5]
Sadness is part of the normal process of the child separating from an early symbiosis with the
mother and becoming more independent. Every time a child separates a little more, he or she will
have to cope with a small loss. If the mother cannot allow the minor distress involved, the child
may never learn how to deal with sadness by themselves.[6] Brazelton argues that too much
cheering a child up devalues the emotion of sadness for them;[7] and Selma Fraiberg suggests that it
is important to respect a child's right to experience a loss fully and deeply.[8]
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Margaret Mahler also saw the ability to feel sadness as an emotional achievement, as opposed for
example to warding it off through restless hyperactivity.[9] D. W. Winnicott similarly saw in sad
crying the psychological root of valuable musical experiences in later life.[10]
Neuroanatomy
According to the American Journal of Psychiatry, sadness has been found to be associated with
"increases in bilateral activity within the vicinity of the middle and posterior temporal cortex,
lateral cerebellum, cerebellar vermis, midbrain, putamen, and caudate."[11] Jose V. Pardo has his
M.D and Ph.D and leads a research program in cognitive neuroscience. Using positron emission
tomography (PET) Pardo and his colleagues were able to provoke sadness among seven normal
men and women by asking them to think about sad things. They observed increased brain activity
in the bilateral inferior and orbitofrontal cortex.[12] In a study that induced sadness in subjects by
showing emotional film clips, the feeling was correlated with significant increases in regional brain
activity, especially in the prefrontal cortex, in the region called Brodmann's area 9, and the
thalamus. A significant increase in activity was also observed in the bilateral anterior temporal
structures.[13]
Coping mechanisms
People deal with sadness in different ways, and it is an
important emotion because it helps to motivate people to deal
with their situation. Some coping mechanisms include: getting
social support and/or spending time with a pet,[14] creating a
list, or engaging in some activity to express sadness.[15] Some
individuals, when feeling sad, may exclude themselves from a
social setting, so as to take the time to recover from the feeling.
A man expressing sadness with
While being one of the moods people most want to shake,
his head in his hands
sadness can sometimes be perpetuated by the very coping
strategies chosen, such as ruminating, "drowning one's
sorrows", or permanently isolating oneself.[16] As alternative ways of coping with sadness to the
above, cognitive behavioral therapy suggests instead either challenging one's negative thoughts, or
scheduling some positive event as a distraction.[17]
Being attentive to, and patient with, one's sadness may also be a way for people to learn through
solitude;[18] while emotional support to help people stay with their sadness can be further
helpful.[19] Such an approach is fueled by the underlying belief that loss (when felt wholeheartedly)
can lead to a new sense of aliveness, and to a re-engagement with the outside world.[20]
Pupil empathy
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Pupil size may be an indicator of sadness. A sad facial expression with small pupils is judged to be
more intensely sad as the pupil size decreases.[21] A person's own pupil size also mirrors this and
becomes smaller when viewing sad faces with small pupils. No parallel effect exists when people
look at neutral, happy or angry expressions.[22] The greater degree to which a person's pupils mirror
another predicts a person's greater score on empathy.[23] However, in disorders such as autism and
psychopathy facial expressions that represent sadness may be subtle, which may show a need for a
more non-linguistic situation to affect their level of empathy.[23]
Cultural explorations
During the Renaissance, Edmund Spenser in The Faerie
Queene endorsed sadness as a marker of spiritual
commitment.[24]
See also
Depression Sorrow Melancholia
Lost in thoughts, by Wilhelm
(mood) (emotion) Mood
Amberg. An individual
Joie de vivre (psychology)
experiencing sadness may
become quiet or lethargic, and
withdraw themselves from
others.
References
1. Jellesma F.C., & Vingerhoets A.J.J.M. (2012). Sex Roles (Vol. 67, Iss. 7, pp. 412-421). Heidelberg,
Germany: Springer
2. Daniel Goleman, Emotional Intelligence (London 1996) p. 271
3. Masman, Karen (2010). The Uses of Sadness: Why Feeling Sad Is No Reason Not to Be Happy. Allen &
Unwin. p. 8. ISBN 9781741757576.
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Further reading
Karp DA (1997). Speaking of Sadness. ISBN 0195113861.
Wikiquote has
Keltner D; Ellsworth PC; Edwards K (May 1993). "Beyond
quotations related to:
simple pessimism: effects of sadness and anger on social
Sadness
perception". J Pers Soc Psychol. 64 (5): 74052.
doi:10.1037/0022-3514.64.5.740. PMID 8505705.
Look up sadness in
Tiedens LZ (January 2001). "Anger and advancement versus
Wiktionary, the free
sadness and subjugation: the effect of negative emotion
dictionary.
expressions on social status conferral". J Pers Soc Psychol. 80
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