Sadness and anger can have a positive effect on the brain

Negative emotions such as sadness, fear, anger, or worry are a temporary feeling phase, as are feelings of joy and happiness. Most people avoid negative emotions and try to pretend they are happy. In fact, however, negative emotions have several mental health benefits.

The benefits of feeling sadness and other negative emotions

A study shows that negative emotions can have positive effects because they are part of the evolution of human emotions. Negative emotions act as a way of adaptation that causes the body to recognize and remember these situations, so that we can take better care of ourselves, and improve a person's cognitive abilities.

Here are some positive effects that can arise from feeling negative emotions:

1. Improve memory skills

Basically, our ability to remember can be interfered with by other information, so we tend to remember less. However, it can be reduced when someone feels negative emotions.

An experiment was conducted to test the strength of memory when it is raining, compared to when it is sunny. In fact, the effect of rainy weather, which is thought to trigger negative emotions, actually causes the information to be memorized to be even more detailed, and to cause less misinformation.

2. Improve communication skills

Currently experiencing bad mood , someone tends to pay more attention to details and more attention to what someone is talking about. These negative emotions also encourage someone to use persuasive opinions to convince someone, and make it easier to understand ambiguous statements.

3. Trigger better decision making

Worrying about past failures can teach you what to do and what to avoid. So, if used properly, anxiety can be used as a material for planning and decision making in the future.

4. Increase focus

As a mechanism of adaptation, feeling bad mood also increases the ability to focus on the problem or situation at hand. It can also encourage the brain to become better at thinking critically in finding solutions to problems.

This is inversely related to feeling good, which acts as a signal indicating a familiar or safe situation, and causes the brain to process information with less detail and focus.

5. Improve analytical and assessment skills

Negative emotions such as worry or fear can minimize bias in judging something, because someone tends to be more sensitive to mistakes. In addition, dealing with fear and anxiety can also encourage a person to process information more effectively.

6. Acting as a catalyst

Basically, fear is something that is natural for every human being to feel. On the one hand, fear is a mechanism that protects you from harm, but fear of failure can also trigger the strongest urge to do something and make a difference. That is why avoiding fear or anxiety about change can also cause a person to miss opportunities to develop.

Negative emotions are different from mental disorders

Although often associated with mental illness, negative emotions are something quite different. Mental disorders such as depression or anxiety disorders can interfere with health with the appearance of various symptoms that interfere with activity, reduced energy, disturbed sleep patterns and difficulty concentrating. Meanwhile, negative emotions within reasonable limits have very little effect on daily activities because it is a natural response and can still be controlled.

Apart from the benefits that have been mentioned above, basically the emergence of negative emotions acts as a balance. It should be realized that negative and positive emotions can come alternately. Both have their respective roles, so there is no need to be avoided. Feeling sad or happy to help ourselves adjust to the situation at hand and encourage things that need to be done.