Discussion 'You can get addicted to a certain kind of sadness...'

[Forever Sleep]

From the Gotye song: 'Somebody that I used to know':

'...You can get addicted to a certain kind of sadness

Like resignation to the end, always the end...'

Do you think that's true? I think it might be. I definitely tend to wallow in sadness. I guess in part because it takes so much effort to force yourself out of it. There's a comfort in it because it's familiar and unchallenging. Self pity is a kind of lazy excuse to not do things I know I ought to be doing to help. It can be scary to try and 'recover'. There's always that chance of falling again and falling further. Sometimes, it feels safer to stay in a low mood. I think the Victorians used to call it melancholy.

When is it depression though? When it's prolonged? When it starts to disrupt our lives maybe? Messing with sleeping and eating patterns and all that?

What do you think? Do you somewhat enjoy or dwell in your low moods? I think it probably depends on just how low they are. Deep grief isn't comfortable.

 

[xinino]

I got depressed everytime a read something disturbing about history like slavery, wars, radical movement, ideology, religions. It made me sad and unwilling to live in this world, my depression prolongs causing sleep and eat disorder which affects my work even if I want to do the job, my brain literally hurts and I am unable to focus and function properly.
I often enjoy sadness, especially when related to controversial ideologies, gruesome historical figures and grotesque events.

 

[Meteora]

I immeditely recognized the lyrics of that song :). I like it very much.

I m not so experienced with being overly sad over a long period, though.
Depressed, yes. Very much.
Hm I don t know if that makes sense.
What I realises clearly is that I procastinate. But I guess I m emotionally way too unstable to remain in sadness. I can t control it.

 

[Alexei_Kirillov]

For me there's definitely truth to that. In the past when I've started feeling better, there's always an accompanying resistance in me that tries to sabotage it and go right back to my sadness. I think it's partly because I have no idea what to do with positive emotions. I had this one period of my life where I genuinely started to feel good (due to external circumstances that can't really be replicated), and I wrote in my journal at the time that it was an "empty happiness" that had "nowhere to go." Just felt pointless, like a waste of energy almost. Sadness on the other hand feels somehow meaningful and seems to carry weight to it.

Sorry if I didn't explain that well, it's a bit of a half-baked idea in my head.

 

[Forever Sleep]

For me there's definitely truth to that. In the past when I've started feeling better, there's always an accompanying resistance in me that tries to sabotage it and go right back to my sadness. I think it's partly because I have no idea what to do with positive emotions. I had this one period of my life where I genuinely started to feel good (due to external circumstances that can't really be replicated), and I wrote in my journal at the time that it was an "empty happiness" that had "nowhere to go." Just felt pointless, like a waste of energy almost. Sadness on the other hand feels somehow meaningful and seems to carry weight to it.

Sorry if I didn't explain that well, it's a bit of a half-baked idea in my head.

You explained it really well. Feeling happy tends to make me feel confused, insecure and afraid I suppose. Not that it's happened all that often but it's made me think- I suppose this is how I ought to be feeling and living. It's not sustainable though and the moment you 'gain' anything in life, it invites in the possibility/ probability of loss.

 

[eatantz]

I've been sad for so long that its become my constant. I don't know who I would be without the depression, its scary to think about. I also believe my depression is logical, the world is so evil and horrible why would I be happy? because of this thought process I cant even see me ever not being depressed so I accept it. When I experience significant emotional pain I also feel joy from it, its a strange feeling.