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At Healthfully, we strive to deliver objective content that is accurate and up-to-date. Our team periodically reviews articles in order to ensure content quality. The sources cited below consist of evidence from peer-reviewed journals, prominent medical organizations, academic associations, and government data.
- Journal of Women's Health: Premenstrual Syndrome Prevalence and Fluctuation over Time: Results from a French Population-Based Survey
- Journal of Women's Health: Premenstrual Syndrome Prevalence and Fluctuation over Time: Results from a French Population-Based Survey
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What Are the Causes of Sadness?
Occasional sadness is an unavoidable part of everyday life. It is a normal emotional response to physical and psychological loss. Everyone is affected differently by external and personal factors that may induce sadness. Sadness is not a mental illness, it is an emotion that may last a few minutes, a few days or surface intermittently for years.
Physical Causes
Physical changes that cause loss of independence, dignity, mobility and brain functioning commonly evoke sadness. These changes commonly occur with chronic illnesses, such as heart disease, diabetes, multiple sclerosis or Alzheimer disease. Hormone fluctuations, such as increased estrogen prior to menstruation and during pregnancy, may also trigger periods of sadness. According to the authors of a January 2009 article in the "Journal of Women's Health," 12.2 percent of women have premenstrual syndrome symptoms that disrupt their lifestyle to some degree 2.
- Physical changes that cause loss of independence, dignity, mobility and brain functioning commonly evoke sadness.
- Hormone fluctuations, such as increased estrogen prior to menstruation and during pregnancy, may also trigger periods of sadness.
Psychological Causes
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Sadness is a reaction to emotional, intellectual, social and spiritual loss. Common examples of psychological losses include the death of a loved one; loss of status, health, income or faith; and loss of hope for the future for yourself or someone else. A different type of psychological sadness is caused by longing for something that is not possible. These nostalgic memories create a wistful type of sadness, while homesickness causes feelings of sadness and loneliness due to the absence of family and friends.
- Sadness is a reaction to emotional, intellectual, social and spiritual loss.
- Common examples of psychological losses include the death of a loved one; loss of status, health, income or faith; and loss of hope for the future for yourself or someone else.
External Causes
When you meet person who is sad, you probably respond with a sad facial expression and supportive words. When you know people or animals are suffering through no fault of their own -- whether in your own community or in other parts of the world -- you may experience feelings of helplessness, distress and a sense of identification with the victims that leave you with a residual type of sadness.
Personal Causes
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Some people are more susceptible to sadness than others are. Older adults experience more intense feelings of sadness in response to distressing situations, according to the authors of an April 2011 article in "Social Cognitive Affective Neuroscience." The authors report increased sensitivity and experience with loss as factors that contribute to this enhanced "sadness reactivity."
Authors of a November 2011 study published in the "Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity and the Arts" investigated whether music can evoke genuine sadness. Researchers found that participants who selected sad music themselves became genuinely sad as it triggered nostalgic memories. The findings showed that when participants listened to sad music selected by the researcher, they experienced less intense sadness. Researchers further clarified that a participant's level of internal compassion and empathy affected the intensity sadness triggered by both personally selected and researcher-selected music.
- Some people are more susceptible to sadness than others are.
- Researchers further clarified that a participant's level of internal compassion and empathy affected the intensity sadness triggered by both personally selected and researcher-selected music.
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References
- Psychology and Aging Anger and Sadness in Response to an Emotionally-Neutral Film: Evidence for Age-Specific Associations with Well-Being
- Journal of Women's Health: Premenstrual Syndrome Prevalence and Fluctuation over Time: Results from a French Population-Based Survey
- Advances in Consumer Research: Advertisers’ Theories of Consumers: Why Use Negative Emotions to Sell?
- Lokko HN, Stern TA. Sadness: Diagnosis, evaluation, and treatment. Prim Care Companion CNS Disord. 2014;16(6). doi:10.4088/PCC.14f01709
- Hecht D. The neural basis of optimism and pessimism. Exp Neurobiol. 2013;22(3):173-99. doi:10.5607/en.2013.22.3.173
- Targum SD, Fava M. Fatigue as a residual symptom of depression. Innov Clin Neurosci. 2011;8(10):40-3.
- Simmons WK, Burrows K, Avery JA, et al. Depression-related increases and decreases in appetite: Dissociable patterns of aberrant activity in reward and interoceptive neurocircuitry. Am J Psychiatry. 2016;173(4):418-28. doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.2015.15020162
- Hage MP, Azar ST. The link between thyroid function and depression. J Thyroid Res. 2012;2012:590648. doi:10.1155/2012/590648
- Driessen E, Hollon SD. Cognitive behavioral therapy for mood disorders: Efficacy, moderators and mediators. Psychiatr Clin North Am. 2010;33(3):537-55. doi:10.1016/j.psc.2010.04.005
Writer Bio
Based in Canada, Joanne Henderson has been writing health-related articles for more than 20 years. She has covered dementia and disruptive behavior for the "Canadian Nursing Home" magazine. Henderson is also a practicing clinical nurse specialist.