Thread: Why do I get sad after I have fun?

Whenever I do something special, and fun, I get sad after. I just went skiing. I had lots of fun. I'm done skiing, and I'm sad now.

Why do I get so sad after I have fun?

Having fun releases endorphins in the brain, creating a sense of euphoria, happiness and satisfaction.

It seems what (I believe many) people experience after that's all over is like the equivalent of a sugar crash.

how would you know what happy is or be able to measure it without sad?

Originally Posted by grmpysmrf

how would you know what happy is or be able to measure it without sad?

As a teenager I "had a theory" that 90% of the time we were neither happy, nor sad, but largely neutral. How that remaining 10% was split between happy and sad determined whether or not we saw our life as being happy or sad. A small displacement in one direction could alter our whole perception.

Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness, and the word happy would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness. It is far better take things as they come along with patience and equanimity.

Carl Jung


I do believe that if you haven't learned about sadness, you cannot appreciate happiness.

Nana Mouskouri

There's always an element of sadness when something is completed - even if that something was horrendously hard work i.e. finishing a degree is a mixture of happy and then sad. Its partly due to the fact that your attention is consumed by the things that make you happy or that you have to work hard at so you don't have time to reflect on emptiness or yourself. Once the all consuming activity is finished if you have nothing planned for the near future the 'nothing' becomes saddening. Reflecting inwards is one of the quickest ways of becoming down and unhappy - you can test this out by staring at yourself in the mirror for a few moments, it doesn't take long for negative thoughts to kick in and this holds true for most people. Always having a 'next thing' planned is the best way of limiting the sad period.

Originally Posted by LuciDreaming

There's always an element of sadness when something is completed - even if that something was horrendously hard work i.e. finishing a degree is a mixture of happy and then sad. Its partly due to the fact that your attention is consumed by the things that make you happy or that you have to work hard at so you don't have time to reflect on emptiness or yourself. Once the all consuming activity is finished if you have nothing planned for the near future the 'nothing' becomes saddening. Reflecting inwards is one of the quickest ways of becoming down and unhappy - you can test this out by staring at yourself in the mirror for a few moments, it doesn't take long for negative thoughts to kick in and this holds true for most people. Always having a 'next thing' planned is the best way of limiting the sad period.

I see. Happiness is like an addiction. If you don't ever have fun, you are used to not having fun, and you don't get sad from not having fun.

But if you have fun, when you are not having fun, you are suffering from withdrawal, and you feel depressed.

You're sad because the "fun high" is over and you figure you will just be returning to a regular state. Just as was mentioned by several above, just find the next fun thing to do...or just hit the slopes once more! Haha

How about taking up a hobby? A low-level but constant supply of fun.

Originally Posted by Daecon

How about taking up a hobby? A low-level but constant supply of fun.

Yes I do have a hobby, but it's not the amount of fun things like skiing is. It's like if you go to a car race or something, just the atmosphere of it makes you feel good. But my hobby is a lone hobby, and it's just in my house. I guess I could make skiing my hobby, and go every weekend or something, but that can be expensive.

And skiing isn't the best for my health, since my toes are getting numb for a few days after skiing.

Bipolar? Not to mock you (I'd never mock a psychiatric condition, nor psychiatry for that matter), but then it could be an issue at hand.

I think though the best humans can hope for concerning life happiness is an even keel. Balance is key with all things in life. We have high and lows, but provided one is reasonably content, this the best we can aim for IMO. Constant exhiliration is not good either, neither is constant negativity.

Originally Posted by LuciDreaming

There's always an element of sadness when something is completed - even if that something was horrendously hard work i.e. finishing a degree is a mixture of happy and then sad. Its partly due to the fact that your attention is consumed by the things that make you happy or that you have to work hard at so you don't have time to reflect on emptiness or yourself. Once the all consuming activity is finished if you have nothing planned for the near future the 'nothing' becomes saddening. Reflecting inwards is one of the quickest ways of becoming down and unhappy - you can test this out by staring at yourself in the mirror for a few moments, it doesn't take long for negative thoughts to kick in and this holds true for most people. Always having a 'next thing' planned is the best way of limiting the sad period.

So it's good to feel "guilty" at being happy.. is there a reason?