tips for coping with sadness daily
Sadness is a normal emotion and, as such, is part of life. “t is the natural response to situations in which we experience some form of loss. It usually manifests itself with a lack of motivation, reluctance, crying, reduced activity, a feeling of heaviness or lack of energy and thinking focused on the negative, vice president of the Spanish Society for the Advancement of Clinical Psychology and Health – XXI Century ( Sepcys ). The experience of sadness can vary from person to person and from situation to situation.
When sadness prevents the person from carrying on with their lives and generates intense discomfort, “e consider that the limit of pathological sadness, depression, may be crossed .”
But it’s not always like this. “any life events, such as the death of someone close, losing a job, or a breakup, can produce intense sadness without this necessarily being abnormal.”
To deal with the normal sadness that can arise daily, the expert gives a series of tips.
1) Focus on the cause of the sadness, not the sadness
Normal sadness is the sign that something is wrong in our day-to-day life. “t is best, whenever possible, to focus on the cause of the signal, not the signal itself. . For example, if I feel sad because I argued with a person, the best way to stop the sadness is to solve the problem.”
2) Seek support from others
But sometimes – for example, a death – there may not be a possible solution. In these cases, “seek the support of others.”
Talking about the problem can sometimes help. Although the vice president of Sepcys explains that, as a general rule, “you have to speak up when you feel you need to. This gives an outside perspective on our problems and allows us to gain support and vent.”
However, he warns, “forcing yourself to speak up may not be as positive. The interlocutor is very important, and someone with good intentions but who is more interested in fixing our lives than in listening to us can produce little comfort.”
3) Try to normalise the situation
Another method against sadness is to try to normalise the rhythm of life. Maintain the work, leisure and routine that are done daily. Of course, “without forcing”.
4) Look for positive emotions
The expert urges us to experience positive emotions. Each one will find these emotions in different activities. Some, for example, will be able to do it in music or cinema.
Generally, “positive, enjoyable, and reinforcing activity is the best response to sadness. But care must be taken to prevent it from becoming a way of escaping real problems.
5) Play sports
Sport is a very positive activity for the state of mind and has a certain euphoric quality of its own. “this is due to the changes in the body, the secretion of endorphins, and the feeling of challenge and improvement that usually entails.”In addition, it facilitates sleep and eating, two processes that can also be affected by sadness.
6) Avoid apathy
It is common for sadness to lead to apathy or reluctance, abandoning social, leisure, work activities, etc. However,” this can make us add even more to the sadness and lose positive things that served as fuel. Sadness mustn’t stop us completely .”
7) increase vitamin D
In the case of vitamin D, increasing the hours of exposure to the sun and outdoor activities is advisable. In particular, these tips are more relevant in older people, given their greater tendency to isolate themselves in their homes, because they have more difficulties synthesising this vitamin and the beneficial effect of vitamin D for maintaining the integrity of bone mass. Moreover, “though they are known for all the risks of excessive sun exposure on skin cancer, the positive effects of solar radiation on the cardiovascular or immune system, and mood, should not be forgotten.”
Supplementing the diet with vitamin D can be an acceptable option. In fact, in some countries such as the United States or New Zealand, up to 40 per cent of the population takes a supplement of this vitamin, for example, through milk. However, the Cibersam researcher adds that it would be more accurate to indicate that the need for this vitamin would be given not only by its protective factor against depression but also by its role in preventing bone problems and muscle strength. In addition, certain foods provide a certain amount of vitamin D, such as cod liver oil, fatty fish such as tuna, salmon and mackerel, and, to a lesser extent, egg yolk and cheese.
