Sadness to me is such a deep emotion, it is one of the most beautiful emotions we can experience as a human being and but still very sad in its long term experience, it is hard but understanding it helps to express it.
Anyway, im Dan and I am with long term depression. It sits within my soul, I am blank and I am sad within. But sadness becomes beautiful, its one of the deepest emotions someone can feel, it can tear apart the soul in seconds, it can bring someone standing to the floor, it makes people feel unbearable pain, but some of us we survive all of this – and it brings us to the silence of sadness. When all the trauma has passed we are left with this emotion and its enormous capacity of expression in the most quietest ways.
Sadness comes after the anger / frustration or it comes as a replacement of this, or if like me you have had with sadness. Life trauma’s means you can just get triggered by sometimes the smallest of things and then become an un-masked version of yourself, its scary and sometimes very confusing, ‘just hold it together!’ you may think to yourself. It is hard but we can live with this. It is not a scary emotion, you know if you were to be sad around most people – you would receive a hug, this reduces sadness in several ways – it produces happy endorphins such as the release of Oxytocin and then kicks in Dopamine and serotonin, these hormones which then become neuro-transmitters sent to the brain, releasing the feeling of happiness, via love and care.
The Science Behind Sad Hormones
Hormones have such a critical impact on our brain, making this important on understanding how it is regulated and how you can maintain / manage your own mental health during crisis points.
To even begin to comprehend the impact of hormones and how it has an effect on our mood, it’s crucial to understand the key hormones that are involved in each of our mood regulation. Several hormones have to work together to maintain a healthy emotional balance, these include cortisol, thyroid hormones, estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone. These hormones then interact with neurotransmitters in the brain, such as serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine, which are responsible for regulating mood, emotions, and cognitive function.
The endocrine system, a network of glands that produce and secrete hormones, plays a vital role in maintaining emotional well-being. When this system is disrupted, it can lead to hormonal imbalances that affect neurotransmitter function, potentially resulting in mood disorders like depression.
Swaab, D. F., Bao, A. M., & Lucassen, P. J. (2005). The stress system in the human brain in depression and neurodegeneration. Ageing research reviews, 4(2), 141-194.
Maintaining a healthy diet and lifestyle play a huge part in emotional regulation, but many (including myself) due to how fast paced society now works have an encourage able mindset of if it does not work within say a week then it will not work at all, but patience is key to success.
Women also have to once a month endure a hormonal disruption due to their menstrual cycle, please understand this – so once a month if you are within a stressed mind that can feel almost manic you could be experiencing part of your menstrual cycle. Meno-pause also can majorly disrupt moods, so please be patient with yourself.
I believe when dealing with sadness amongst any capacity that you must be patient with yourself, try not to battle with the waves of sadness but please sit with it –
For more understanding please see my blog about how to ‘Sit with it‘
Or ‘Acceptance & Positive Change‘
Below a poem i wrote –
Sadness Poem
You know you actually look beautiful when you cry
It is one of them emotions that you really shouldn’t let hurry on by
See there is a new outlook, a new story about little ol’ sadness
Something I know that wont make it look so hard and within a type of hardened distress
So,… I heard that it is the shallow light after being lost in the abyss
It is the aftermath of a blazing fire, the dull mist
It’s the peaceful sound of the shore after waves crashing like thunder
It’s seeing the silent numb gaze of a passer by that makes you wonder
It’s the ending of one of those eye for an eye battles
It’s when you after so long you release the chains and the shackles
It’s the day after staying awake all night because your minds within chaos
It’s not wanting to go to work but knowing you can’t actually stay off
It drags you down too the deep blue and some of us sadly might not return
When you make it back to the surface you may see though, something you have learnt
It is not easy to understand, you know this sadness
You have to find or sucumbe the energy to create a light within the darkness
But again, just so you know, even when it is too dark, when you cry you look beautiful that way,
And if you are struck with sadness I hope you see that it is even more beautiful that you choose to stay
Thankyou for reading,
If you need any guidance – reach out to one of our coaches