What is sentimentality and should we fight it?

Sentimentality is a special type of sensual mood, when external events and impressions affect a person’s feelings and emotions to a greater extent, practically without affecting the mental sphere, the tendency of the psyche towards increased receptivity and daydreaming. A feeling of sentimentality can manifest itself as touch, tenderness, delight or empathy in moments that do not cause such reactions in the majority of others, and in its extreme manifestations it can be expressed in increased tearfulness or cloying enthusiasm, bordering on ignoring shortcomings.

The presence of such a worldview does not negate the fact that a person can be aggressive, angry, cynical and skeptical, since sentimentality has a selective meaning and does not apply to all life events. A person can be overly touched by animals and empathize with them, while hating people; he can be moved by a film, but remain indifferent to the events in the store line. Most often, this feeling and sentimental character lends itself to criticism, both in society and in literature, and in the perception of society borders on weakness, recklessness and stupidity.

Definition

The word sentimentality comes from the French sentiment and is translated as “feeling.” Wikipedia refers to it as a mental property in which external impressions act not on the mind, but on the feelings. This mood manifests itself in the form of receptivity, enthusiasm, daydreaming, tenderness, touch and empathy for reasons that do not cause all of the above in other people.

An example that is probably familiar to many: when two people are watching a film, one is in tears, and the other sits with a stony face and does not understand what there is to cry about. This is an extreme manifestation of sentimentality, giving a person tearfulness and cloying sensitivity.

In simple words, a sentimental person is one who experiences positive and negative feelings more acutely than others. He is easy to please, surprise, impress. And it’s just as easy to hurt and offend.

Sentimentality can also be selective. For example, apply only to animals, but not to affect stories about people. In addition, this quality often coexists with cynicism and aggressiveness. Therefore, impressionable and sensitive does not always mean kind and compassionate.

History of the term

This concept was first mentioned in European countries in the second half of the 18th century. This term denoted sensuality and reaction to the works read.

In Russia, this term appeared at the beginning of the 19th century. It meant an overly emotional reaction, an idealized image of human experience, life and nature. This was a counterbalance to the strict classicism characteristic of ordinary people.

Now the word “sentimental” means a feeling person, an empath who treats the feelings and thoughts of other people with compassion. Including those feelings that are expressed in works of art, literature or cinema.

Manifestation in women and men

Sentimentality is considered to be the prerogative of women. And in vain. Representatives of the fairer sex indeed have a slightly greater mobility of the nervous system and have a different direction of thinking from men. But in fact, the biggest role here is played by a person’s temperament, and, as is known, it does not depend on gender.

Sanguine and choleric people are most susceptible to sentiment. In addition, sensitivity is affected by instability of the nervous system. Based on this, melancholic people also fall into the group with increased susceptibility.

You may be wondering how a person's temperament differs from their character.

The only reason that can explain why women are more emotional and vulnerable is their testosterone level. The higher its level in the body, the less sentimental the person is. Men have tens of times more testosterone. But over the years, this hormone decreases in both sexes. This is one of the reasons why older people become more sensitive.

Let's see what are the characteristics of the manifestation of sentimentality in men and women.

In men

From childhood, boys are told that real men don't cry. Most people learn to suppress emotions and develop neuroses. There are creative people who are not shy about their feelings and boldly express them in public. But among representatives of other professions there are many sentimental men who are susceptible to strong emotions regarding a certain area.

For example, they can admire the successes of their children, empathize with the hardships of loved ones, feel delighted about their hobbies, etc. In addition, men perceive their own illnesses, problems at work, and failures in business much more keenly.

There are men who beautifully look after girls: they give flowers, arrange candlelit dinners, come up with surprises. This is also a manifestation of sentimentality, which is called romance.

Among women

Society gives the weaker sex more freedom to express their emotions. And often girls use this for selfish purposes: they pout, throw hysterics, and cry. Some try to manipulate a partner or child in this way, others seek pity and sympathy, others seek concessions at work, etc.

But, as we have already found out, men can be no less sensitive. Only in their case, sentimentality is most often noticed in the context of positive events, and female sensitivity manifests itself in negative ones.

A large list of a person’s emotions and feelings/experiences. 257 emotions in alphabetical order

Excitement Apathy Serenity Hopelessness Harmlessness Safety Indifference Hopelessness Anxiety Helplessness Incoherence Powerlessness Fury Reverence Gratitude Bliss Vigor Soreness Pain Fear Rebellion Inspiration Generosity Faith Mutual assistance Excitement Guilt Falling in love Excitement Indignation Belligerence Excitement Receptivity Delight Delight theft Sensitivity Temperance Arrogance Stupidity Anger Pride Arrogance Bitterness Willingness Sadness Disorientation Depression Insolence Kindness Trust Contentment Annoyance Drive Friendliness Competitive spirit Heartache Pity Liveliness Funniness Caring Envy Surrender Interested Ingratiation Confusion Arrogance Confusion Shyness Schadenfreude Anger Identity Isolation Amazement Interest Irony Sincerity Fear Hysteria Exhaustion Comfort Laziness Jubilation Cunning Admiration Love Self-love Curiosity Dream peacefulness Peacefulness Plea Gloominess Vengefulness Hope Arrogance Tension Alertness Equanimity Indignation Tenderness Awkwardness Unsociability Hatred Disobedience Dislike Nervousness Impatience Inconvenience Discouragement Concern Resentment Relief Relief Adoration Doom Loneliness Spirituality Liveliness Waiting Concern Puzzle Mischief Disgust Fear Optimism Devastation Liberation Insult Stunned Caution Disgust O haste Detachment Retardation Detachment Despair Alienation Appreciation Numbness Fascination Fascination Dazed Dazed Feeling trapped Feeling stuck Feeling threatened Sadness Tearfulness Dejection Obsessiveness Trick Suspicion Suspiciousness Abandonment Submissiveness Patronizing Insanity Defeat Impulse Lost Shock Superiority Anticipation Contempt Disregard Affection Appreciation Acceptance Elation Forgiveness Inquisitive Joy Irritation Frustration Vulnerability Disposition Absent-mindedness Relaxation Frustration Confusion Jealousy Reflection Determination Zeal Self-righteousness Self-worth Sarcasm Grumpiness Restraint Sentimentality Angry Seriousness Strong desire Sympathy Sorrow Boredom Weakness Brokenness Laughter Humility Confusion Confusion Composure Regret Doubt Resistance Sympathy Calm Shyness Suffering Passion Fear Longing Stress Shame Happiness Firm confidence Warmth Longing Anxiety Trembling Three umf Heaviness Respect Self-confidence Passion Passion Dejection Sullenness Luck Surprise Satisfaction Pleasure Dejection Horror Remorse Tenderness Peaceful Humiliation Humiliation Despondency Loss of strength Persistence Fatigue Injured Vulnerability Blues Royalty Cynicism Feeling of lack of love for you Shock Euphoria Exaltation Ecstasy Energy Enthusiasm Rage

Causes

We have already partially explained why some people are more sentimental than others. Let’s briefly summarize the main aspects and find out what else makes us cry without serious reasons:

• Feature of the psyche. This includes representatives of certain types of temperament, as well as creative individuals who subtly sense the world around them and other people.
• Hormones . This is not only a decreased level of testosterone, but also a change in hormonal levels that occurs, for example, during pregnancy. This is why women become very sensitive and whiny during pregnancy. In addition, increased emotional excitability is caused by periods of menstruation, menopause, and certain diseases.
• Age. Again, this is due to changes in hormonal levels and a decrease in testosterone levels. In addition, older people often remember their youth, sometimes the experience they live causes regret or nostalgia, which adds reasons for longing and sentimentality.
• Upbringing. Hysterical character traits can be provoked by a lack of attention, double, contradictory and unfair instructions, despotic upbringing or the absence of it at all.

More than 100 cool lessons, tests and exercises for brain development

Start developing

Older sister (brother) complex.

The order in which children are born affects their upbringing. As a result, personality formation

The first child grew up on his own, he got everything: a separate room, new things, a lot of toys, all the attention, parental care

When the second child appears, all these things and aspects are divided in half, unless an even larger share is given to the baby. And as a rule, this happens because they require more care. Therefore, the elder is deprived.

This situation creates a feeling of deprivation and anger. And also, high responsibility over the younger child means a lot of work. Such conditions of upbringing and family life form certain personality traits with which a person enters adulthood.

Main features.

Young men and mature people often display character traits behind which one can easily see a sister (brother) complex:

• suffer from perfectionism;
• authoritative;
• according to statistics, they have a high level of intelligence;
• responsible;
• strive for perfection, which can result in both success and an inferiority complex;
• overly caring;
• tendency to punish, censure for infantile behavior;
• heightened sense of injustice;
• seriousness, severity;
• going headlong into work;
• raising people around as if they don’t understand anything;
• trying to find a partner who will need control and care, like a younger brother or sister.

Take a mental test

How to get rid of it?

To get rid of the sister (brother) complex, you need to realize that adult life has begun. There is no need to educate anyone anymore. There are the same independent people around with their own point of view. If they need help, I can ask them myself. Excessive care can only worsen the relationship between each other.

You no longer need to constantly work or be busy. That is, you need to learn to rest and relax. After all, if you constantly take on the burden of responsibility and pile on many tasks, chronic fatigue develops. Because of which people become irritable, cognitive functions suffer.

Seriousness and rigor are good qualities for doing the same work. But you shouldn’t transfer these character traits into everyday life. After all, they create an atmosphere of tension. You can always laugh at something, sometimes look ridiculous or even childish - let out a child that you didn’t have time to play with enough in childhood.

Advantages and disadvantages

It is impossible to say for sure whether sentimentality is a positive or negative property. Everything is good in moderation.

Inconvenience can only come from excessive sensitivity, when a person begins to cry and get offended for any reason. It is difficult to live and work with such people. At the same time, it is worth noting that callousness and soullessness also do not bring joy in communication.

So, about the disadvantages:

• Sentimental people are less practical, they are daydreamer and often have their head in the clouds. The modern pace and conditions of life are such that those who are more stable in emotions and look at problems soberly win.
• Excessive tearfulness is emotionally draining and threatens burnout.
• Many people begin to feel guilty because they cannot help everyone. And this is also a very destructive state. By the way, we have a separate publication on how to get rid of guilt.
• An overly sentimental person risks becoming a subject of manipulation by others.
• Extreme sensitivity spoils love, friendship and work relationships.
• Overly sensitive and dreamy people tend to idealize when it comes to positive emotions. Conversely, they can overwhelm themselves by experiencing negative experiences.

Now about the advantages:

• Moderate sentimentality helps to build friendly, trusting relationships with people around you.
• Sensitive people are more capable of empathy, compassion and support than others. They subtly sense the moods and states of other people.

Healthy sentimentality is the expression of emotions on occasion and the ability to quickly return to reality. For example, if a father is moved at his son’s wedding or a girl wipes away tears while reading a romance novel with a sad ending. This quality does not harm anyone - neither those around him, nor the person himself.

Survey

Determining the causes of tearfulness is carried out by specialists from various fields - psychiatrists, neurologists, endocrinologists. Primary diagnosis is carried out using clinical methods, including interviewing the patient and his relatives, as well as observing behavior. In most cases, patients are able to critically evaluate their experiences, so they independently report to the doctor about frequent crying, emotional sensitivity, mood swings and other symptoms. A conversation with relatives helps to clarify the duration of the symptom and its causes. To establish the etiology of tearfulness, the following is used:

• Study of the emotional sphere of personality.
  Comprehensive psychodiagnostic testing allows us to determine the presence of depression, leading character traits and personality traits that are the basis of tearfulness. Various questionnaires (MMMPI, Cattell questionnaire) and projective techniques (color choice test, drawing of a person) are used.
• Laboratory studies of hormones.
  If a conversation with the patient does not reveal the psychological causes of tearfulness, but there are signs of an endocrine disease, a blood test is performed to determine the content of hormones. The concentration of hormones of the adrenal glands, thyroid, pancreas, parathyroid and/or gonads is examined.
• Instrumental studies of the brain.
  If the patient complains of emotional disturbances and there are signs of organic damage to the central nervous system, a neurological examination, CT and MRI of the brain, ultrasound of cerebral vessels and other diagnostic procedures are performed. The results make it possible to determine pathological changes in cerebral structures and tissues.

How to deal with excessive sentimentality

It’s worth getting rid of impressionability when it begins to be emotionally exhausting and interferes with building business or personal relationships. To become less whiny, psychologists advise using the anchoring method:

1. Choose a “safe word” for yourself, an object that you can carry with you, or a smell or sound. For example, as soon as tears begin to roll up and a lump forms in your throat, snap your fingers and say the safe word “enough.”
2. Now we need training so that a stable association is developed between the chosen anchor and the state of calm. To do this, you should also decide on the state that you want to feel at the moment the signal arrives: stability, restraint, rationality, etc. You can remember the situation during which you felt this. Record it in your memory so you can recreate it in time.
3. Perform such training not only in highly emotional moments, but also when you are at home in peace. After a couple of weeks, you will already be able to feel lasting results.

Such practices will help rebuild neural connections and respond to the same circumstances in a new way.

Learn more about how to control your emotions.

Three proofs that tears are a sign of a strong personality

There is a common but false belief that tears are a sign of lack of character. But only mentally stable people can see reality as it is and react correctly to what is happening. In fact, crying is a sign of superpower.

Let us immediately note that you must understand:

• Sentimentality is a mental property that, depending on the context, can be a manifestation of sensitivity or selfishness.
• Sentimentality is a trend in literature, poetry and advertising.
• Tears are part of what makes us human.
• The ability to cry and not be ashamed of your emotions is a trait of a strong person.

Thus, strong personalities are not afraid of their tears because:

1 - Able to control emotions

Emotional intelligence plays the same role as IQ. This is the ability to understand your emotions, to know the meaning of experiences in the context of your life. Emotions are essential for motivation, self-control and self-discipline.

A strong person develops and values ​​his emotional intelligence. They do not give in to momentary impulses to throw out their emotions on others. Feeling anger and rage boiling inside, he is able to stop time to pause and comprehend what is happening. But then he reduces the emotional tension of listening to the ballad.

2 - They know how to empathize

Sympathy does not mean shedding a tear over someone’s misfortune and moving on with your life. It's asking the right questions, listening and understanding the other person's feelings.

A strong person is a person who gives orders. He is able to convince another person that sharing feelings and experiences is normal. He does not impose his opinion, does not give ready-made solutions to problems, and does not pull the blanket over himself. But a strong man is ready to share his experience. And this requires special sensitivity and your own emotional experience. 3.

3 – Don’t seek everyone’s approval

It's normal to want to be liked by others. But sometimes the strength of personality lies in giving up the desire to be everyone's favorite.

A strong person knows that emotions are more important than social norms, and does not try to look like a super machine in order to demonstrate his courage every minute. It creates a personal scale to evaluate yourself and others. He has enough internal resources not to rely on the opinions of others. This fills a person's life with much more freedom and personal power.

Sentimentality allows us to remain people with a high degree of empathy

Sentimentality Test

Want to test yourself for sensitivity? I suggest answering a few simple questions and counting the number of “yes”:

1. Do you have things in your home that you can't throw away because of the memories associated with them?
2. Does it happen that you cannot hold back your tears when saying goodbye to loved ones?
3. Are you familiar with such conditions when “your heart bleeds”, “your soul hurts”, “heaviness in your heart”?
4. Can you forget about business and responsibilities for the sake of your loved one?
5. Do you like diminutive love addresses such as “bunny”, “cat”, etc.?
6. Do you have any memories that can make you cry?
7. Do you get upset easily when you hear someone's love story?
8. Do you consider yourself a compassionate person?

The more affirmative answers you get, the more sentimental you can be considered.

Sentimental - what is it?

Taking everything to heart, trying on any situation, even the closest interlocutor, worrying about things that seem trivial from the outside - the reason for this is the person’s temperament and upbringing. The combination of these factors distinguishes people who, for example, cry at the movie Hachiko.

"Sentiment" is a concept borrowed from the French language, where "sentiment" is translated as "feeling." This is a psychological trait characterized by increased perception of the outside world and daydreaming.

In the classic example, sentimental people are melancholic people who grew up surrounded by creative people. Information and impressions from the environment influence their feelings more than their thinking. That's why they get so upset by bad news or a touching moment in a movie.

This trait can be called hypersensitivity because sentimental people have a much lower sensitivity threshold than normal people. When the other person shows no emotion, the sentimental person may suddenly change his mood, wince or shed a tear.

There is an opinion that the cause of sentimentality is self-pity, which arises when we compare ourselves with the “hero” of some situation or story. But this goes away after a while, and the person does not want to attract attention to himself.

Sentimentality is a combination of various factors: character, personality type, temperament, etc.

Why is crying good for you?

At the end of this article, I would like to say a few words in support of sentimental people. Psychologists and doctors agree that tear therapy is beneficial for health and psyche. And it doesn’t matter at all whether you cry from happiness or grief.

Here are the arguments they give to support their assertion:

1. Protection from stress. Restraining emotions provokes a whole bunch of different ailments - from migraines to neurosis. During crying, joy hormones - endorphins - are released, so moral relief occurs. In other words, tears are an excellent antidepressant.
2. Cleansing the body. Just like sweat, tears remove toxins. But this is only relevant for emotional tears. If you cry from an onion or squeeze out crying on purpose, the effect will not be as effective.
3. About pain relief. In addition to endorphin, enkephalin is released during crying, which is very similar in properties to morphine. Therefore, while crying, mild pain may not be felt. But, of course, the effect does not last long, and it is better to relieve severe pain in more effective ways.
4. Strengthening relationships. This is not about manipulation for personal gain, which can only ruin relationships. The point is that tears expose the soul, make a person sincere and vulnerable. This allows you to better understand him, to penetrate into the very depths of his soul.

Treatment

The main therapy should be aimed at eliminating the cause of tearfulness - reducing the intensity of stress, normalizing the woman’s hormonal levels, changing the parenting style. If it is impossible to influence the etiological factor or influencing the cause requires long-term, labor-intensive treatment, symptomatic remedies are used. Thanks to them, tearfulness decreases, the patient becomes more balanced and socially active, and the effectiveness of basic therapy increases. Symptomatic help for tearfulness includes breathing exercises, psychotherapy, medication, and changes in activity patterns.

Yoga is a great way to find peace of mind

Breathing exercises

At the physiological level, crying is manifested by a complex of reactions of the respiratory, cardiovascular and nervous systems. A person is able to control his breathing voluntarily. To stop the beginning attack of crying, it is necessary to eliminate the feeling of spasm in the throat and holding your breath. The easiest way to do this is with breathing exercises, which include slow and deep breathing, deep breaths through the nose with noisy exhalation through the mouth, fast and intense breathing. The most effective method is selected by the patient individually by trial. In women, the diaphragmatic breathing technique gives good results.

Behavioral psychotherapy

Behavioral techniques are aimed at switching attention, changing external activity that supports crying. The simplest exercises are running, purposeful activity, provoking another emotion (anger or joy). While running, a sequence of movements is established, muscles contract rhythmically, breathing intensifies - all these processes prevent crying.

Specially created purposefulness of actions switches attention from sad and sad thoughts to solving the problem. Distraction options: searching for keys in a bag, making a shopping list. It can be difficult to provoke anger or joy on your own, but with training this skill is developed. It is necessary to remember a funny or angry situation and the people who participated in it, and reproduce the images in your thoughts in as much detail as possible.

Transactional analysis

Psychotherapy using the method of transactional analysis is a more complex way of dealing with tearfulness. According to this direction, a person’s personality is represented by three states - Adult, Parent and Child. Tearfulness is most characteristic of the latter, since crying stores the conscious and subconscious experience of childhood. During psychotherapy sessions, the patient is taught to remain in the position of an Adult, analyze situations and make decisions, without allowing emotions to determine behavior. At the same time, attention shifts from experiences of the past and future to the state of “here and now.”

Drug therapy

Medications can be used to combat tearfulness. Their selection is carried out by a psychiatrist or psychotherapist, depending on the combination of symptoms. If tearfulness manifests itself along with anxiety and increased irritability, anxiolytics, sedatives, and herbal sedatives are prescribed. For nervous exhaustion and signs of depression, antidepressants and tranquilizers are used, and for sleep disorders, sleeping pills are used.

Normalization of the daily routine

The basic cause of tearfulness is the instability of the processes of inhibition and excitation in the nervous system, therefore, to maintain emotional balance, it is necessary to adhere to the correct regime. The most important things are adequate sleep of at least 8 hours at night, regular exposure to fresh air, and alternation of mental and physical labor. Patients are advised to make a plan for the day and week, be sure to include walks, hobbies and sports that bring pleasure.