110 - How to Be Sad with Best-Selling Author Helen Russell

The Verywell Mind Podcast

Dotdash Media Inc.

Health & Fitness, Self-improvement, Mental Health, Education

5 • 703 Ratings

🗓️ 4 October 2021

⏱️ 38 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Helen Russell is a journalist, author, and happiness researcher. She's written several books on happiness and why some people are happier than others. Her latest book, however, is called How to Be Sad. Through her research, she discovered that allowing ourselves to be sad could be the key to becoming happier. Some of the things she talks about in this episode are the benefits of happiness, the strategies we should stop using when we feel sad, and the coping skills that can help us embrace the sadness so we can ultimately grow happier. She also shares a simple strategy that could reduce your risk of depression by 30%. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the Very Well Mind podcast. We've interviewed over 100 authors, experts, entrepreneurs, athletes, musicians, and others to help you learn strategies to care for your mental health.
0:22.9	This episode is hosted by psychotherapist and bestselling author Amy Morin. Now let's get into the episode.
0:45.4	Okay. My guest is Helen Russell.
0:48.6	Helen is a best-selling author of Books on Happiness.
0:53.8	Through her research, though, she discovered that a lot of people are terrified of feeling sad. This is something
0:55.5	she struggled with in her own life. She experienced sorrow as a child when her sister passed away,
1:00.5	and then her parents split up. As an adult, she struggled with infertility and an eating disorder.
1:06.5	And she found one of the things that probably contributed to those problems was the fact that she never allowed herself to feel sad.
1:13.6	Helen's research into happiness helped her uncover a lot of things about how to be happy,
1:18.5	including why allowing yourself to be sad could be the key to improving your life.
1:23.5	Some of the things Helen talks about today are why we're so afraid to be sad,
1:28.9	how sadness can actually lead to happiness, and the skills you can use to cope with sad feelings.
1:34.0	Make sure to stick around until the end of the episode for the therapist's take.
1:37.9	This is the part of the show where I'll break down Helen's mental strength-building strategies
1:41.6	and talk about how you can apply them to your own life.
1:44.7	So here's Helen Russell on allowing yourself to feel sad can help you grow mentally stronger.
1:51.1	Helen Russell, welcome to the Very Well Mind podcast. Thank you so much for having me.
1:56.1	So I recently read your book, How to Be Sad. And even as a therapist, I have to say, there's like a
2:01.7	moment of hesitation about picking it up because I think, do I really want to know how to be sad?
2:06.9	However, you also make it abundantly clear on the cover of the book. Your subtitle is,
2:12.2	everything I've learned about getting happier by being sad. So can you just explain for anybody else who might have that
2:19.0	moment's hesitation? Like, why would I want to read a book about being sad? How sadness is actually
	...

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