Most of us try to avoid sadness. When we feel low or down, we distract ourselves or push those feelings away. But neuroscience shows that allowing yourself to feel sadness—rather than avoiding it—can actually support your recovery from depression and negative moods. This process is crucial when healing from depression.
The Science Behind Feeling Your Feelings
Psychologists Norman Farb and Zindel Segal studied 166 people who had recovered from depression. Over two years, they found that those who avoided feeling their emotions or physical sensations during stressful times were more likely to relapse.
Their research, published in NeuroImage Clinical (Feb 2022), highlights an important point: suppressing your feelings can backfire. In contrast, acknowledging and accepting your emotions—even uncomfortable ones—can lead to healing from depression.
Another way of saying this is that by allowing yourself to feel negative feelings, you begin to let them go, which supports healing.
Why Feeling Sadness Helps
Here are seven powerful reasons why allowing yourself to feel emotions—especially sadness—can support your mental health:
1. Breaks the Cycle of Avoidance
Depression often fuels avoidance—of emotions, thoughts, and sensations. By consciously facing these feelings, you disrupt the cycle of avoidance which opens the door to processing and healing.
2. Builds Self-Awareness
When you tune into your emotions and bodily sensations (like tension or heaviness), you begin to understand how depression shows up in your body and mind. This awareness is the first step toward managing it.
3. Supports Emotional Processing
Emotions like sadness, fear, and anger are natural. Depression often dulls them, but reconnecting allows them to move through you—rather than getting stuck inside.
4. Strengthens the Mind-Body Connection
Depression often disconnects you from your body. However, feeling physical sensations helps ground you in the present which reduces overthinking and rumination—hallmarks of depression. Practices like mindfulness and body scanning can help you feel grounded and foster a sense of safety and calm.
5. Reduces Emotional Overwhelm
When you ignore or avoid your emotions, they can build up and feel overpowering. Facing them gently and gradually makes them more manageable. Even a few minutes sitting with sadness may review it’s transient nature, making it less overwhelming.
6. Encourages Self-Compassion
Acknowledging your emotions validates your experience. It sends the message that your feelings matter—and that you deserve kindness, not criticism.
7. Improves Emotional Regulation
Regularly allowing yourself to feel builds emotional resilience. Over time, you learn to respond to emotions more calmly and wisely—not by shutting them down.
Norman Farb notes that this research could lead to new clinical tools that help people recognize when they’re avoiding sensations—a key risk factor for depression—and create therapies that strengthen the ability to stay connected with one’s emotional and physical self.
How to Reconnect with Sadness (or other negative emotions)
Here are some simple yet powerful techniques to help you start feeling your emotions again, especially when you’re facing sadness or low moods:
- Mindfulness Meditation: Sit quietly and focus on your breath. Notice thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations as they come—without judgment.
- Journaling: Write freely about how you feel, what you’re sensing in your body, or what thoughts are circling in your mind.
- Body Scan: Lie down, breathe deeply, and mentally scan your body from head to toe, gently noticing each sensation.
- Somatic Therapy: Work with a therapist trained in body-based techniques to explore how emotions live in your body and how to release them safely.
Practicing these regularly can help you feel more empowered and resilient, not only supporting your recovery from depression but fostering your long-term well-being.
Want More Guidance?
If you’re looking for deeper support on this journey, check out my course:
Managing Stress and Building Resilience Masterclass
It’s designed to help you overcome depression, stress, and trauma and build long-lasting emotional strength, aiding significantly in healing from depression.
