In this final installment of the four primary emotions, we conclude with the SADNESS response. Just like joy, fear, and anger, sadness is a natural, normal, healthy, and important emotional response.

The SADNESS response is also the basis for one type of major depressive disorder, and needs to be understand understood that way, as well.

SADNESS typically occurs in response to loss, either the loss of someone special, something important, and or something that we do. We also feel SADNESS when we lack things, like when we lack joy, especially people, activities, and environments that make us happy.

Words that mean shades and strengths of the SADNESS sadness response are down, apathetic, lethargic, blue, disheartened, and stuck.

As I mentioned earlier, the SADNESS response is the basis for how and why we experience clinical depression. Later I will describe major depression more, and how there are two varieties. SADNESS is the basis for one of those.

But basically, when life situations cause us to feel sad, or cause the SADNESS response more continually, that’s what we usually call depressing. And when we feel hopeless, or hopeless that the situation will improve, this intensifies the SADNESS response, making it more feel intense and what we typically call one type of clinical depression.

Finally, and to conclude this description of the four primary response emotional responses, or joy, anger, fear, and sadness, they are all natural, normal, and healthy responses. Emotional responses exist to tell us something, just like every other sensory response. More on all of this later, a lot more.