So Sad Today: Personal Essays

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That’s sort of true. So Sad Today wouldn’t exist if I never experienced emotional and psychic pain that felt like it was going to kill me. And I like that So Sad Today exists. But it’s also sad that I am afraid to just say thank you, human to human, when someone extends sympathy. Like, to receive compassion means I am weak. And I am terrified of being weak.

So Sad Today: Personal Essays by Melissa Broder | Goodreads So Sad Today: Personal Essays by Melissa Broder | Goodreads

While reading this book I discovered that there's simply no subject that Broder is afraid to write about, and no shortage of readers who can relate. That’s interesting, I do have a lot of British followers. I lived in London for five months when I was 20, and I loved the dark sense of humour. I think part of that is the weather. You need a dark sense of humour to survive that. But at the time I was in an active addiction, so I wouldn’t say it was great for my mental health. I feel it doesn’t matter where you are, it’s who you are. People ask me, “Since moving to LA do you feel happier?” No. Any time you attempt a fresh start by changing something on the outside, particularly geographically, you’re going to bring yourself with you. In 2018 Broder published the novel The Pisces, [1] which garnered praise from The New York Times, The New Yorker, Vogue, and The Washington Post.Forgive yourself. Let the sadness be a voice for what you’re going through. Express that. It doesn’t mean things will change right away. But you will change. That will make meaning out of your sadness. It will help you transform what you hope to change. 9. Depression Definitely. The essay on my vomit fetish [where fantasising about vomit helps achieve orgasm] – a couple of months before the book came out I realised, “Wait, this is actually going to be in the world…?” To this day, when my aunt says she has the book, I just want to rip that chapter out. Before the book came out I said to my agent, “I think we have to take this out, nobody has to know this much stuff.” They told me to think about it, so I showed it to a couple of writer friends, and they said “You have to keep this in.” I’ve had people refer to that essay recently as the centrepiece of the book. But still it would be so much easier for me if it was not in there.

Psychology Today 10 Scientific Reasons You’re Feeling Depressed | Psychology Today

Not a fan of comedy? Taking a beloved book off the shelf or curling up with a nostalgic movie can sometimes offer similar benefits. Listen to music If your sadness does relate to depression, you’ll likely feel sad nearly all of the time — almost every day, for most of each day, for a period of 2 weeks or longer. Sadness, in other words, seems to become a constant companion. For someone with anxiety, dramatic situations are, in a way, more comfortable than the mundane. In dramatic situations the world rises to meet your anxiety. When there are no dramatic situations available, you turn the mundane into the dramatic.” In a way, being sensitive can be looked down upon. We ignore warning signs of sadness, depression and other forms of suffering because having feelings is something we cannot be open about in society. Stigma stifles us from speaking up.

5. Negative Messages or Self Talk About Yourself

LeMoult J. From stress to depression: Bringing together cognitive and biological science. Current Directions in Psychological Science. Published 2020. doi:10.1177/0963721420964039 Poverty, pain, wrong doing, injustice… Sometimes, there are things outside of our control. We may feel like there’s nothing we can do in our current circumstances to make it better. But we have to try.