Sadness: the flip side of happiness - The Times 5th November 2007

At last, influential psychiatrists are questioning the inclusion of sadness in the medical definition of depression (report, Dec 3). Why then, after reading Anjana Ahuja’s report, am I left feeling depressed? It is because the experts are still assuming that “a good evolutionary reason lies behind the preservation of sadness as a psychological trait”. Dr Evans speculates as to the function of sadness. Perhaps, he suggests, it is a way of making us stop and reflect, so as to avoid mistakes in the future. Perhaps it is to elicit support from others. Perhaps it is to inhibit challenges to those higher up the pecking order. Well, countless non-experts could tell him that sadness is the flip side of happiness. Bereavement, broken relationships and missed opportunities are hardly to be contemplated dispassionately unless life is emptied of satisfactions — and Dr Evans can, no doubt, think up good evolutionary reasons for happiness.

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Additional Story

Don't be depressed - feeling sad can be good for you - Daily Mail 4th December 2007