Why We Listen To Sad Songs At Christmas

On Wednesday we spoke with a psychiatrist about Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) which is a lack of light triggered chemical imbalance with the symptoms of depression. Once you are in a gloomy mood maybe you noticed that some Christmas songs come off as haunting and just plain sad. So why do we even listen to the sad ones?

Dr. Matthew Sachs of the University of South Carolina explains, "If you're the kind of person who listens to sad music during the holidays, you're more likely to be an empathic person, but more generally you get some kind of psychological benefit from sadness."

Wait- excuse me? Some psychological benefit from being sad?

At the same time, some say mixed emotions are just part of the holiday season-- the end of the year prompts reflection, nostalgia, and as mentioned -even seasonal affective disorder. It's thought sad music could be used as a tool for dealing with these issues. Dr. Sachs says "One [way sad music helps you deal with sadness] would be to purge yourself to move past [negative emotions] or get rid of them. The other would be to strengthen them and go more deeply into them."

Other research suggests we like sad music because it encourages us to address whatever caused the sadness in the first place, which ultimately feels good in the long run. Others think it's enjoyable because we are able to differentiate between the sadness we perceive and feel and still others think it feels good to be reassured we even can feel anything at all. (Inverse)