Why is sustaining a sad/depressed mood extremely easy but sustaining an excited/happy mood difficult?
In: Biology
In general, your brain pays more attention to negative experiences like sadness (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negativity_bias). This effect becomes more dramatic if you’re genetically predisposed to depression. As a second reason, if you’re predisposed to depression, your brain generally responds less strongly to positive emotions than to negative emotions (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3181884/).
Sadness is perfectly okay to feel, but if you ever begin to lose the ability to feel pleasure or start becoming empty or numb, definitely try to get help. All of these changes in the ways that our brain processes emotion in depression can be reversed.
Because apathy is easy. To sit and do nothing is easy.
Bit to be happy usually means you are actively doing things, including things you enjoy, so the effort involved to get up and find a book or play an instrument or do some art or learn a new skill or even just have a shower is way way more then just sitting on your couch and bed while your brown goes “meh”.
I’ve known people in my life that seem to be happy no matter what happens. Almost like their default state is happiness.
So that being said you cannot really state that being sad is easier like it’s a fact.
I think this depends on several factors such as your mental/physical health. Also depends on the kind of habits you have.
I think for most people it is easier to maintain a state somewhere in the middle. With both a series of highs, lows, and middles.
That being said if you feel as though you cannot get out of feeling a state of sadness all of the time I would reccomend reaching out to a therapist to find the root of these feelings.
It is easier to get overwhelmed by negative emotions than positive ones. Also, negative emotions tend to linger for longer periods of time.
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Lost a $100 bill? You will remember it until the day you die!
I believe seeking happiness comes at a cost of immense guilt and change because we have to abandon the people that make us depressed.
I think most of us are aware of the life we’d *rather be living*, and to what lengths we’d have to go to have that life. And depression is the pain of knowing a better life is out there, but can’t have it because you’re anchored down by things in your life you can’t let go of.
I don‘t want to offend anyone, but for me the opposite is true. I know it is a serious illness, and you never know the full story, but around people who always seem in a bad mood, are depressed, only pointing out the negative things, and what Bad could happen, I‘m wondering how they can mantain that terrible mood.
I serously wonder If they want to be in that mood, can‘t they just once smile, try to laugh, not take everything so serious and See everything from the good side? Their Life would be better, right?
(I know they want, and i know they can‘t it‘s just what is going through my Head)
I didn‘t had an easy upbringing, and i also had bad times in my life, but still I‘m a happy Person, almost always.
Even when I‘m angry or sad, e.g after a Fight with my gf, Even when i want to remain angry or hurt or whatever, I‘m always in Need for harmony and try to talk through the Stuff untill i can close this chapter. Now this topic is settled, and i am again More than happy, maybe exhausted mentally and morally but happy.
So for me the opposite is through, how can‘t you be always happy, and if you’re not then find the thing that makes you sad/whatever, stop lying to yourself and go fix it so you can be happy again,
(I know exactly that Motivate yourself BS is the last thing that helps people with depression, and I truly try to emphazise with them, but this is what I am thinking)
Sorry for bad engrish I’m germam
I don’t find this to be a true comment. I’m naturally super happy and it’s very easy for me to sustain. I have a very hard time feeling sad for too too long. Always defaults back to happy. I do smile a lot naturally though so that may help.
For me its difficult to stay upset or sad. I’m resilient. It’s all about mindset, optimism, and being honest with yourself.
When ur sad if you have had any negative memories or experiences it is easier for your brain to recall them therefore, u stay in a ruminating state longer which proceeds to make u depressed. Where as when your happy you are in the current state & you don’t tend to ruminate on happy memories. AKA your biologically set up to be fucked up
I think it’s for the most part genetically pre-destined. Some people are bubbly af and some are sullen and bitter. Perhaps, to some extent, we can push our brains to react to things in different ways, but it probably depends upon the specific individual.
There’s no way that everyone can be as bubbly as those bubbly people, cuz then wouldn’t the world be so happy? There’s no way everyone can be as bitter as the most bitter people. But maybe we can all, to some extent, change our brain’s appraisal of things.
aka Perhaps sustaining a depressed mood to you, might be much harder to someone else. Then, for you, it may be harder to sustain happiness as other people.
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