Pope Leo XIV addressed sadness as one of the ills of our time, a spiritual and emotional affliction that affects people of all ages and circumstances. Sadness, according to the Pope, is a feeling of insecurity and profound despair that pervades our inner space and seems to overpower any impulse toward joy. This sadness robs life of meaning and vigor, turning it into a journey without direction. You can find the full reflection in the catechesis of October 22nd.

Although many saints experienced the dark night of the soul, from St. John of the Cross, the great spiritual master who coined the term, to contemporaries like St. Teresa of Calcutta, sadness and depression are still considered, if not sins, then a lack of faith. However, St. Teresa, a companion on the journey of the reforming saint, famously said, “A sad saint is a sorry saint.”

Those of us prone to sadness are pressured by the prevailing positivity, which makes us feel like oddballs. We feel clumsy or inept at managing our emotions, and therefore sinful for not using faith to resolve all the reasons for our sadness and live joyfully. We seem to lack faith because it doesn’t help us escape the quagmire of sorrow. Who can make us understand that faith is either useful or useless? These mercantilist parameters of what is useful or useless are dangerous when it comes to life itself.

The topic offers a lot to explore, from the study of different spiritual sensitivities to the perception of reality.

The fact is that sadness is often compounded by the implicit condemnation of those around us, who condemn the lack of joy. “You’re like this because you want to be, or because you won’t adopt this or that solution.” Who can tolerate the anxiety that is contagious, the one who is grieving? Faced with the suffering their sorrow might cause us, we tend to defend ourselves by suppressing their painful or negative expression. “Don’t say that,” or even more frequently, anyone feels capable of diagnosing or prescribing books, talks, or miracle substances. Sometimes they work. It depends on the suggestibility of the person offering help. We must keep in mind that in clinical trials, double-blind experiments, where a placebo is used, it also achieves a certain percentage of success.

It’s good when someone helps us express our feelings. But dwelling on frustration or negative emotions only reinforces the pain and helps it become chronic. Many self-help groups use language that reveals in suffering, reinforcing the disconnect from reality. This is why members of these groups, focused on specific illnesses, illnesses, or the loss of loved ones, often feel comfortable among themselves, understanding each other, while the rest of society seems like strangers.

I have taken the liberty of pointing out five points that, while not eliminating suffering, help to cope with it.

I’m speaking like someone with depression. Among the non-motor symptoms of Parkinson’s are depression, anxiety, and sadness.

The first step is to accept my mood. Not to add the guilt of feeling bad. Great saints and historical figures have also suffered from sadness. Self-acceptance is difficult. Acceptance from God, who loves me as I am, despite my failures, is easier.

The second is to express your discomfort if you can. There are gray days, even when the sun shines. They pass. Those who suffer have great resilience. Those who fear suffering sometimes flee from it in dangerous ways, such as through addiction.

Third, if medication is available, let’s not be reluctant to use it. Medication doesn’t create the disease. With help, we fight better, although no pill solves all problems.

Fourth. Don’t wait until you’re well to do what you want to do: go out, travel, etc. You may never be completely well. All it takes is a little motivation. Step by step. For example, get dressed up to go out, even if you don’t. But not getting dressed up guarantees confinement.

Fifth, or perhaps first, prayer and meditation. In addition to the daily liturgy, the Serenity Prayer or the Prayer of Trust by Charles de Foucault can be helpful. The Holy Father, in the catechesis mentioned, speaks of the journey of the disciples on the road to Emmaus.

But I would like to go further to combat the obsessive positivism that does so much harm to both the sad and the happy.

Excessive optimism can cause us to overlook risks that will lead to failure. How many businesses or life plans are warned by ignoring risks?

Similarly, showing only the happy side of life and avoiding conflict means that problems are neither raised nor resolved.

Loneliness can also exist within positivism. It’s the syndrome of the clown who makes others laugh, even though he’s crying inside, sinking into a profound loneliness.

But what seems most paradoxical is that being more optimistic doesn’t improve our performance, as one might expect. This was the conclusion of another  study conducted at the Universities of Utah and California,  which compared the performance of a group of more optimistic people with that of another group with realistic and pessimistic views. In the end, the more positive people did not outperform the rest, meaning that optimism doesn’t always translate into better results.

In fact, excessive positivity can often end up negatively impacting performance. This is because, in addition to affecting our expectations and decision-making, it can lead us to overestimate our abilities and even feel frustrated when we don’t achieve our goals.