Negative emotions sadness

It is an emotion that occurs in response to events that are considered non -pleasant and that denotes grinding or melancholy. ¿Vives mired in sadness? If the answer is affirmative, you should not let this feeling defeat you. It is possible that there are days that you are sadder, dejected, with a low mood or that you feel that you are not able to deal with current circumstances, but what you cannot allow is that this type of thoughts become your classmates eternal life and end up affecting you excessively.

Characteristics

• Although it is considered a displaced emotion, it is not always negative, that there is great cultural variability, even in some cultures there are no words to define it.
• Sadness is really a mood rather than an acute emotion. Smith and Lazarus They say people use the term "sad" undifferentiated to describe their emotional reactions to a wide variety of harmful circumstances.
• The emotional response of sadness is different from fear (it is an answer to an event that has already passed, while fear anticipates an event that will happen) and different from anger (sadness is presented when no one is guilty).
• Sadness is associated many times to crying, for this there is a relatively precise sequence that is responsible for this occurring. Thus, when affective concerns occur, their breach is feared and abruptly if such a prediction is fulfilled, tears sprout.
• It occurs before the loss of a pressing desire, which is impossible to satisfy.

1. The triggers They are physical or psychological separation, loss or failure; the disappointment; helplessness situations (absence of prediction or control).

Sadness appears after an experience in which fear is generated, because sadness is the opponent process of panic and frantic activity. It is also produced by the absence of reinforced activities, adaptive behaviors and chronic pain.

2. He cognitive processing It occurs in situations that lack surprise and has a low familiarity for the person. There is an assessment of the situation as important for relationships and order. The event obstructs the person's plans.

And presents a low urgency in mobilizing coping with the event and its consequences. Assessment of the possibility of facing the situation is understood that it is a negligence.

Therefore, the person values ​​that he has very low control over the consequences and that has no capacity to face them. A certain capacity to adapt to the consequences.

3. Effects

- Subjective effects.

Feelings of discouragement, melancholy, discouragement and loss of energy. Attention is focused on the consequences of the situation in the internal field. States of grief, pessimism and despair that trigger feelings of self-compliance.

Sadness can induce a characteristic cognitive process of depression (depressive schemes and errors in information processing), which are the main factors of its development.

Physiological activity.

SNA: moderate heart rate elevations, light increases in both systolic and diastolic blood pressure (changes similar to those produced by joy). Somatic SN: elevation in neurological activity, which are maintained prolonged.

Investigation of Cacioppo, Klein and Hatfield On comparisons in pairs of emotions: sadness and disgust (> fc in sadness), sadness and astonishment (> fc in sadness).

The effects of these physiological changes are that of a decrease in energy and enthusiasm for all kinds of activities, and the more sadness increases and body metabolism is slowed, the more we approach depression.

Coping.

Reduces activity in all types of tasks, since it is associated with a reduction in attention capacity, which focuses inside. In addition to this way, traumas are prevented and energy restoration is facilitated.

Cunningham Consider that sadness has the function of promoting constructive self-examine, for which there is a decrease in activity (valuation of other aspects of life that before the loss were not paid attention).

Another function is to act as a help call (awake.

It can generate help from other people, as well as appeasement of aggression reactions by others, empathy, or altruistic behaviors.

This article is merely informative, in psychology-online we have no power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.

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