Sadness Can Actually be Good for You

Difficult times are a part of every person's life. It's not strange to be bombarded with emotions you can't handle. With all the emphasis on positive thinking and being happy, the reality tends to get veiled. What we forget is that a little bit of sadness, a couple of 'bad' days can actually help us emerge stronger, more focused and more determined. Positive and happy moments are definitely easier to live in, but in a world where sadness did not exist, the value of happiness would be really low. Aristotle, the famous Greek philosopher taught that an ideal life was the life of eudaimonia--usually translated as happiness. Contrary to this belief, it was actually a detachment from the delusional life and acceptance of reality that Aristotle was talking about.

The new world beliefs strive to inculcate positive thinking and free will in the minds of the common man, leaving behind realistic thoughts and beliefs, which actually contribute to developing and shaping an individual’s personality.

Treat pain just as an immunity shot. The injection may hurt a bit, even swell sometimes, but in the end, it changes you in a hundred ways, making you more resistant and strong. What's more, sadness and depression give you better sleep, and help you better analyze tricky situations. You tend to approach a risky situation more carefully and with a greater tact after you've faced a failure or sadness in that area.

Researcher Peter Hills, a cognitive psychologist at the Anglia Ruskin University of England admits that being in a sad mood is often associated with poor performance at cognitive tasks. However, this study, mentioned in the journal 'Consciousness and Cognition', seems to have broken all the earlier beliefs of psychologists. The new findings obtained from this study have confirmed that sad people perform better at face recognition than others. Peter Hills also suggests the possibility of sad people being more susceptible to social cues.

Sad people are basically thought to fare better at facial recognition skills due to the fact that they tend to pick up minute details more than happy people, which in turn helps them recall faces better.

Moreover, it is also found that traumatic events enhance analytical reasoning and this helps you break down a complex problem into smaller parts.

Advertisement

So the next time you face a bad situation in life, which you think you can't handle, slow down, take a deep breath, and remind yourself--Nothing is permanent. This too shall pass.

Source-Medindia