Sadness is a construct, and as such cannot exist alone; without happiness there is no sadness and vice versa. They are the yin and yang that propels human beings through life, with happiness being the goal, and sadness being the benchmark by which human beings can assess the progress toward their goals. Ancient Philosopher, Aristotle, who studied under Plato, student of Socrates, touts “happiness” as our raison d’être. He is supported by philosophers who taught after he did, by the United States Declaration of Independence which purports the pursuit of Happiness, and by the fleeting American Dream, which still holds the pursuit of happiness at its helm, although it translates happiness into prosperity and success. Somewhere in-between there is another emotion, the neutral, apathy. To be apathetic is to be emotionless —a deformity, a numbness that questions a person’s humanity, and calls attention to the need for healing. To say that there is a pursuit is to say that persons are unhappy or not happy. To be “not happy” is to be either apathetic or to be sad, while to be “unhappy” is to be sad. And, to assume that there is a pursuit is to say that persons are unhappy or not happy; as by being in pursuit, they have not attained. The starting point of the pursuit then, is always sadness or apathy. Because apathy is the state of being emotionless, the push is always for humans never to remain at rest there. Sadness fuels that pursuit; it brings balance; it helps in the management of grief; gives an assurance of the existence of happiness; it defines what happiness is not, and it lends hope of achieving happiness.
Moreover, sadness is the great leveler, it is the thing that like pain, begins with the amber caution signal symptom, which eventually changes to the steady red stop signal symptom that hangs people in internment for a while, to allow time for thinking, employing good judgment, and ultimately making better choices. And like pain, sadness is necessary to protect from harm. Yes, sadness is a necessary emotion.
People stifle the body’s natural tendency to protect and repair itself by trying to curtail sadness; and studies have shown that by exercising extreme happiness persons are more likely as individuals to trivialize things, and to merge their memories with a broad paint brush. And as a species, when human beings exercise extreme happiness, a portion of their moralistic barometer is cracked, and they compromise their principles; they sacrifice judgment. Sadness, however, allows people to represent their individual selves better as is evidenced by the knowledge base that they exhibit, and by the better judgment calls that they make as a people. With extreme happiness they risk the balance that they need as human beings to deal with grief, and hurdles that come our way in our quest for happiness. So what is sadness?
A key in the argument for sadness as necessary for human life is first understanding what sadness is, or is not for that matter. Merriam-Webster describes “sadness” as the state of being “affected with or expressive of grief or unhappiness”. Sadness is therefore an emotion that should be as a result of an occurrence. It should not be an on-going permanent emotion. When sadness lasts past the normal period allotted for grieving for whatever occurrence has caused the happiness to be obscured, sadness becomes depression. The argument that we are making here is an applause for sadness as a necessary emotion. It does not include depression. The Psychology of Sadness, (2012) presents several issues surrounding behavior with regards to sadness, focusing a great deal on grief, the emotion human beings experience when they have loss in their lives. It is the most universal and common reason for sadness given the frequency and certainty with which it happens as a normal part of human life. It also looks at the sadness caregivers experience as they care for ailing loved ones, and how that sadness is akin to grief because the caregiver has already experienced the “loss” of the person for whom they are caring. The book also points out the creativity that sadness can effect. According to editors Emile J. Langley and Roger B. Knowles in the preface of the Psychology of Sadness, ‘sadness’ “is in principle an aversive affective state but is nevertheless immensely enjoyed in the arts as witnessed by prevalence of the theme in literature, films, and music. Music in particular is a rich and natural source of emotions for a large number of people in everyday situations.” It is important to realize that everything works together towards achieving the goals of happiness. It is crucial for mental health to accept sadness because if people suppress those feelings, just like if they ignore pain they can do mega damage to their system. If they view everything in the world in a positive way they can become complacent, stay their sense of urgency, or have a false sense of security; however, when people feel the crisis that sadness brings they will be more likely to strive towards a goal.
Additionally, it is the overcoming of the affects of sadness that effects a thrust towards happiness. When both sadness and happiness are weighed together in the life of an individual, the person gets to see that the negative experience helped to give a better perspective on life. Recounting a study done by prominent social psychologist, Joe Forgas, Psychologist, Douglas Kendrick, offers various benefits of sadness in his article, “7 Good Things About Feeling Bad: The Bright Side of Sadness in Psychology Today,” stating that Forgas had discovered in his extensive study on sadness that in general people make better judgments when they are sad. The specific benefits for sadness over happiness as discovered in the study are improved memory, more accurate judgments, reduced gullibility, reduced stereotyping, motivational benefits, increased politeness and increased fairness. Forgas concludes that sad persons experience improved memory because they “are more likely to be attuned to their environments, whereas happy people are more likely to just “go with the flow” (Kendrick). He found that the mood of happy people made them fall prey to “primacy effect” in which whatever a person first learns about another, or about a character is what sticks in their mind about that person, rather than who that person really is, as opposed to an unhappy person who discounts the “primacy effect” and makes the better judgment based on the evidence. Kendrick goes on to share that the studies showed that sad people are more skeptical and judgmental and therefor are not as gullible as happy people. They assess situations better and use concrete evidence rather than rely of stereotyping. In every instance the non-gratification benefits of being sad outweighs the benefits of being happy.
So the bottom line is that sadness is a necessary emotion that people should not stifle, as doing so is extremely harmful. If people allow sadness to run its course, it invariably makes them wiser and stronger and ready to face the next challenge. On the flip side, if people suppress sadness, they will probably have a nervous breakdown after which all their filters will disappear. The key is to understand the reason for the sadness. If there is no grieving necessary, and if time and subsequent experiences are not helping the symptoms of sadness to disappear, then maybe the emotion is not really sadness, but something else. If all the evidence points to some occurrence, event or loss, that by the course of nature puts a damper on our day, smile knowing that wisdom accompanies it.
Works Cited
Horwitz, A V. and J C. Wakefield. The Loss of Sadness : How Psychiatry Transformed Normal Sorrow Into Depressive Disorder. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007.
Kendrick, D.T. “7 Good Things about Feeling Bad: The Bright Side of Sadness”. Psychology Today. Web. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/sex-murder-and-the-meaning- life/201306/7-good-things-about-feeling-bad 23 June, 2016.
Knowles, R B. and E J. Langley. Psychology of Sadness. New York: Nova Science Publishers, Inc, 2012.
Tillery, Rachel, et al. “Friendship and the Socialization of Sadness.” Merrill-Palmer Quarterly 61.4 (2015): 486-508. Academic Search Complete. Web. 22 June 2016.
