For the videogame, see Sadness (video game).
For the song by New Found Glory,
see Radiosurgery (album).
"Sad" redirects here. For other uses, see Sad (disambiguation) and SAD
(disambiguation).
For other uses, see Sadness (disambiguation).
A detail of the 1672 sculpture Entombment of Christ,
showing Mary Magdalene crying
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Sadness is an emotional pain associated with, or characterized by, feelings of
disadvantage, loss, despair, grief, helplessness, disappointment and sorrow. An
individual experiencing sadness may become quiet or lethargic, and withdraw
themselves from others. An example of severe sadness is depression, a mood which
can be brought on by major depressive disorder or persistent depressive
disorder. Crying can be an indication of sadness.[1]
Sadness is one of the six basic emotions described by Paul Ekman, along
with happiness, anger, surprise, fear, and disgust.[2]: 271–4
Childhood
Sad girls. Photo by Paolo Monti, 1953
Sadness is a common experience in childhood. Sometimes, sadness can lead
to depression. Some families may have a (conscious or unconscious) rule that
sadness is "not allowed",[3] but Robin Skynner has suggested that this may cause
problems, arguing that with sadness "screened off", people can become shallow
and manic.[4]: 33, 36 Pediatrician T. Berry Brazelton suggests that acknowledging
sadness can make it easier for families to address more serious emotional problems.
[5]: 46, 48
Sadness is part of the normal process of the child separating from an early
symbiosis with the mother and becoming more independent. Every time a child
separates a little more, he or she will have to cope with a small loss. If the mother
cannot allow the minor distress involved, the child may never learn how to deal with
sadness by themselves.[4]: 158–9 Brazelton argues that too much cheering a child up
devalues the emotion of sadness for them;[5]: 52 and Selma Fraiberg suggests that it is
important to respect a child's right to experience a loss fully and deeply.[6]
Margaret Mahler also saw the ability to feel sadness as an emotional achievement,
as opposed for example to warding it off through restless hyperactivity.[7] Donald
Winnicott similarly saw in sad crying the psychological root of valuable musical
experiences in later life.[8]
Neuroanatomy
A large amount of research has been conducted on the neuroscience of sadness.
[12]
According to the American Journal of Psychiatry, sadness has been found to be
associated with "increases in bilateral activity within the vicinity of the middle and
posterior temporal cortex, lateral cerebellum, cerebellar vermis, midbrain, putamen,
and caudate."[13] Using positron emission tomography (PET), researchers were able
to provoke sadness among seven normal men and women by asking them to think
about sad things. They observed increased brain activity in the bilateral inferior and
orbitofrontal cortex.[14] In a study that induced sadness in subjects by showing
emotional film clips, the feeling was correlated with significant increases in regional
brain activity, especially in the prefrontal cortex, in the region called Brodmann's area
9, and the thalamus. A significant increase in activity was also observed in the
bilateral anterior temporal structures.[15]
Function
According to functional theories, emotions are designed to allow people to effectively
deal with the situations that evoke the emotion.[16] Sadness is believed to serve two
primary functions that enhance one's ability to cope with loss.[17] One function is the
promotion of cognitive changes that restructure beliefs and goals and reevaluate
implications.[18] For instance, when sad, people tend to be less affected by their
schemas in general, including schemas regarding political ideology (the heuristic
regarding how a conservative or a liberal should respond) when making political
decisions.[19] Another function is to signal a need for assistance and elicit support
from others.[20] This may be done by following the group norms, being kinder to
others, and expressing the need for help physically and verbally. As a result, the
experience of sadness as a group may decrease emotional polarization[21] and
increase relationship building.[22]
Coping mechanisms
Further information: Coping
A man expressing sadness with his head in his hands
A carving of the family of Marija and Petar Škuljević
exhibiting sadness over their deaths
People deal with sadness in different ways, and it is an important emotion because it
helps to motivate people to deal with their situation. Some coping mechanisms
include: getting social support and/or spending time with a pet,[23] creating a list, or
engaging in some activity to express sadness.[24] Some individuals, when feeling sad,
may exclude themselves from a social setting, so as to take the time to recover from
the feeling.[citation needed]
While being one of the moods people most want to shake, sadness can sometimes
be perpetuated by the very coping strategies chosen, such as ruminating, "drowning
one's sorrows", or permanently isolating oneself.[2]: 69–70 As alternative ways of coping
with sadness to the above, cognitive behavioral therapy suggests instead either
challenging one's negative thoughts, or scheduling some positive event as a
distraction.[2]: 72
Being attentive to, and patient with, one's sadness may also be a way for people to
learn through solitude;[25] while emotional support to help people stay with their
sadness can be further helpful.[4]: 164 Such an approach is fueled by the underlying
belief that loss (when felt wholeheartedly) can lead to a new sense of aliveness, and
to a re-engagement with the outside world.[26]
Pupil empathy
Lost in thoughts, by Wilhelm Amberg. An individual
experiencing sadness may become quiet or lethargic, and withdraw themselves from others.
Pupil size may be an indicator of sadness. A sad facial expression with small pupils
is judged to be more intensely sad as the pupil size decreases.[27] A person's own
pupil size also mirrors this and becomes smaller when viewing sad faces with small
pupils. No parallel effect exists when people look at neutral, happy or angry
expressions.[27] The greater degree to which a person's pupils mirror another predicts
a person's greater score on empathy.[28] In disorders such as autism and
psychopathy, facial expressions that represent sadness may be subtle, which may
show a need for a more non-linguistic situation to affect their level of empathy. [28]
Vocal expression
According to DIPR scientist Swati Johar,[29]: VII sadness is an emotion "identified by
current speech dialogue and processing systems".[29]: 12 Measurements to distinguish
sadness from other emotions in the human voice include root mean square (RMS)
energy, inter-word silence and speaking rate.[30] It is communicated mostly by
lowering the mean and variability of the fundamental frequency (f0), besides being
associated with lower vocal intensity, and with decreases in f0 over time.[31][32] Johar
argues that, "when someone is sad, slow, low pitched speech with weak high audio
frequency energy is produced". Likewise, "low energy state of sadness attributes to
slow tempo, lower speech rate and mean pitch".[29]: 10, 13
Sadness is, as stated by Klaus Scherer, one of the "best-recognized emotions in the
human voice", although it's "generally somewhat lower than that of facial
expression". In a study by Scherer, it was found that in Western countries sadness
had 79% of accuracy for facial recognition and 71% for vocal, while in Non-Western
countries the results were of 74% and 58%, respectively.[33]