How to manage sadness: 8 practical tips

Several tips to manage sadness, an emotion that can harm us if it is very intense.

It is important to learn how to properly manage our primary emotions; in this way we can have a clearer picture of how situations in our lives affect us. And in this regard, sadness is one of the basic emotions that can wreak major havoc on us.

In this article we are going to see how to manage sadness so that it does not become a problem in our lives and can not affect us significantly in terms of quality of life. In addition we will give a review to the concept of this primary emotion.

What is sadness?

Before seeing how to manage sadness it is important to know what it is. As we have already seen, sadness is one of the primary emotions experienced by human beings. It is characterized by states of anguish, melancholy and discomfort when some when some situation is unpleasant for us.

Sadness, like all other emotions, can vary in intensity, depending on a number 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, and can bring the subject to the brinkThe problem is when states of sadness become too intense and long-lasting, and can bring the subject to the brink of an anxiety crisis or mood disorders such as depression.

How to manage the feeling of sadness?

The following list is made up of a series of recommendations aimed at managing sadness in daily life.

1. Identifying the emotion

The main thing to achieve a proper management of sadness is to get identify how we are feeling at that moment.

Sometimes emotions are confusing, and make us doubt. What we must do is to establish that it is sadness what we are feeling and not anger or frustration.

2. Determine the reason for the emotion

Once you have established that sadness is weighing you down, it is time to find the reason for that emotion. That is, find the trigger for the sadness. This will require us to be truly honest with ourselves.

To do this, we need to ask ourselves key questions. For example, am I avoiding what is bothering me? Am I really doing what I like? What exactly is it that makes me feel bad? By answering these questions you will get a clearer picture.

3. Establish each thing as it happens

It is important to establish the intensity of sadness in order to know if it is becoming a problem. to know if it is becoming a problem, or if it is an issueor if it is a matter 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.

In case the feeling is maintained for many days in a row, we could be facing a mood problem (it is best to seek professional help), but if it is a sporadic state, we may have to try to solve the specific cause of these states of sadness.

4. Determine the degree of tolerance

Another important aspect to manage sadness is to see up to what point it is tolerable; 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. during the course of the month.

On the other hand, in less intense cases, the person will be able to reestablish his or her emotional stability using only his or her own means, in an adequate manner. It is normal for us to be 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 we will most likely live immersed in that state of sadness. we will live immersed in this negative state of mind..

The opposite happens when we are aware that sadness is a passing mood, and that eventually we will 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. Although it is an unpleasant emotion, it is also a powerful agent of change in certain situations. a powerful agent of change in certain situations..

Let's look at the following example. When we are going through a breakup, it is natural that we are overcome with a feeling of sadness and uneasiness. But as time goes by, 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 the sadness we have become stronger with respect 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.

Resuming a hobby without the desire to be the best at it, just 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

In case none of the previous recommendations succeed in diminishing the negative emotions of sadness in you, and in spite of all the attempts a bittersweet taste of not having achieved what you wanted prevails, the best thing to do is to to attend therapy with a professional of psychotherapy who will be able to properly evaluate you and offer psychological treatment.

Bibliographical references:

• American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. Fifth edition. DSM-V. Masson, Barcelona.
• Torralba, F. (2007). The essence of suffering. An.Sist.Sanit.Navar., 30 (Sup.3): 23-37.