Why do I sometimes enjoy feeling sad?

I sometimes enjoy feeling sad because it reminds me that I have the ability to feel something at all

I think sadness can become a part of us sometimes. It doesn't define a person but it can become almost like a shadow. As humans, we don't like change. People who struggle with depression and sadness are in that dark place so much it almost becomes like a home. We relish the feeling of sameness and the twisted comfort it brings. Sometimes we feel we deserve to be sad. We cannot wait to just wallow and let out our frustrations. Sadness is weirdly addictive.

There is something addictive about feeling sad! It is a very strange thing. Think about all the people who enjoy watching sad movies and crying. There is certainly something about it that we enjoy but it has no benefit, so why do we do it? I know that when I start to feel sad, it's like I want to justify it. So I start thinking of why I am sad. Often there won't be any real reason, and that in itself can make me sadder! I feel sad because I have no reason and it just turns into a spiral. I want my sadness to be real and objective because otherwise I am just being sad for no reason. Also it can be become a bit of an identity, I am the sad guy. I have all this sadness, my life is so hard, nobody knows the struggles I go through. I find myself looking at other people, hoping that they will reach out to me and understand my sadness. But in reality I keep myself away from people because I feel like they can never understand it. So it's a catch 22, I want people to help, but I hide away from them because I feel like they don't understand. So sadness is quite addictive and it leads to a downward spiral. I think recognizing this is what is happening makes it much easier to snap out of. You can almost laugh at yourself when you catch yourself doing this. For deep sadness maybe it takes some more work but a lot of sadness can be very easily let go of when we realize what we are doing is totally pointless and silly. Then we can be free!

Because by enjoying being sad we are embracing being sad, we are mindful of our state, we are having compassion for ourselves and by not fighting sadness, we can move on to become present to other states as they emerge in our experience

I think you could be the type of person who needs to fully experience the emotion you're going through, so you want to give due time to being sad. You may not see being sad as a concretely negative thing that needs to be escaped as soon as possible, but rather simply a different emotional state. We're often conditioned to think of it as something negative, but it doesn't have to be. Sadness, like happiness or angry, just signifies a type of response to a stimulus. It's okay to enjoy being sad, even though it is often misunderstood by others.

Sometimes feeling sad gives us some much-needed attention. We're on go-go-go all the time. But when we're sad, we stop and pay attention to yourselves and how we feel. We may even treat ourselves better than we normally would.

Because feeling sad is better than pretending to be fine and bottling things up until they start to hurt you even more.

Sometimes when you are too used to feeling sad, you can enjoy doing so or in other words get comfortable with it.

It is an emotion that makes you feel alive and that you can actually feel something. I sometimes like being sad because it makes me feel better after i'm done crying, it's like a cleanse

In my personal experience, I get so used to feeling and being sad or low, that it becomes a comfort, a safety blanket, comfortable. I recognise being low and sad, and in that recognition, and in constant sad times, it is a safe place. Sometimes being happy, or feeling happy after a low time can be very disconcerting and very scary. I am used to being low and upset, happiness is somewhat of a rarity, and with that rarity comes anxiety and nervousness.