Perspectives On Aging
Happiness and Sadness: A Necessary Dichotomy
Nowadays, people crave for happiness. They yearn for it at all times. When they are not, they try drugs and alcohol. If that were not enough, they often claim to have the illness of depression and entice their physician into prescribing antidepressants. The pharmaceutical industry often sends the message that a moderate sense of well-being is not enough.
A book was recently published dealing with this issue — “The Loss of Sadness: How Psychiatry Has Transformed Normal Sorrow into Depressive Disorder.”
Sadness is a normal reaction to negative life events. Its value consists of stimulating the person into action. As Flaubert once said, “To be chronically happy, one also has to be stupid.”
If one day science finds a way of making us feel happy at all times, we would lead a very boring and insipid existence deprived of the spice of sadness. Our lives would be unprotected by that alarm signal that spurs us into action to keep us safe.
Nature has many ways of combating protracted sorrow. Among them, engaging in positive thinking and developing a positive frame of mind. Exercise, as all athletes know, allows us to cope with sadness by releasing brain opioids that lead to a state of natural euphoria. Inactivity, on the other hand, fuels gloom.
Happiness cannot exist without sadness, as everything in life has its opposite. It is reasonable to say that happiness is the absence of sadness, and if that is the case, the latter should make occasional incursions into our lives. If not, happiness would be impossible.
Sadness has to be distinguished from depression, which is an illness in need of medical attention. Depression mainly has to do with feelings of helplessness and hopelessness, often leading to despair, low self esteem, inability to experience pleasure, loss of interest, etc. The positive side is that it responds well to adequate treatment, and as such can be perceived as a prelude to happiness.
Dr. Carlos Muniz is a retired psychiatrist from Gainesville. He may be contacted through the editor at editor@towerpublications.com.