The biological reason for sadness: Why we feel sad and what positive effects it has

Hello everyone!

You may have noticed that I’ve been writing a lot about emotions lately, but it is a pretty big and interesting topic to cover, so here we go again:

After the Inside-Out movies, I have been thinking about the source and use of different emotions. Sadness is a primary emotion and yet, I found it hard to find something truly useful about it. So that is what we will talk about today!

What are emotions for?

Let’s first look at the use of emotions in general. They don’t just exist, they are a survival mechanism. Emotions are signals your body sends you in order to make you pay attention to something. If you see a tiger, for example, the fear you feel is your body telling you: “This situation is dangerous, we need to get away. Or when you have a really nice meal, your body wants you to have that experience again, so you feel joy or fulfillment.

Negative Emotions: Do they have a use?

We tend to see some emotions in a negative light because they don’t feel good or stem from situations that don’t feel good. But those emotions too have a use. I already mentioned fear, which is probably the most obvious one. I also recently wrote an article about anxiety and how it makes you stick to your goals and think ahead. But an emotion that I couldn’t think of a biological reason for is sadness.

Why do we feel sad?

After doing some research, I found that sadness plays a big role in empathy. It may not seem like a survival mechanism, but if you think about what empathy means, it makes total sense. When you show other people that you feel sad, it signals them that you need support or that they need to change something about their behaviour. It drives them to help you if you are in trouble.

Also, you feel sad when you are about to loose something important to you or when you have lost something. That makes sadness a motivator for you to cling on tighter to the things you are about to loose and to get back what you have lost. That could mean restoring a neglected relationship, for example. Sadness steers your attention towards the things that you feel need to change.

Another use for sadness is comfort. Especially when you cry, your brain releases a hormone called prolactin that creates a feeling of security and comfort.

Other positive aspects of sadness

Aside from these main effects, sadness also has other positive influences:

higher attention to detail
more inquisitiveness and skepticism
higher accuracy of thinking and memories
increased creativity

A disclaimer here: While sadness itself does have a biological use and positive effects, that doesn’t mean that all levels of sadness are normal. If you constantly feel sad you should consider getting professional help, because a constant sad or negative state of mind can become dangerous, resulting in depression or other psychological disorders.

As always, I hope you found this post interesting to read and I’ll see you next week!