This column is dedicated to the complainers, the whiners, the grumblers, those who are always afraid… And also to the grumpy, the envious, the angry, the unhappy, the anxious… Not forgetting the guilty, the afflicted, the demoralized… And the perpetually dissatisfied and downright nasty…
In short, to everyone, including me, of course.
Les « passions tristes » sont un terme à la mode pour parler des émotions douloureuses, comme la peur, la colère, la tristesse ; spécialement quand elles prennent le dessus sur nous et se répandent autour de nous. Les politiques en font grand usage depuis que le président Macron a popularisé l’expression ; je le cite : « Nous sommes comme recroquevillés sur nos passions tristes, la jalousie, la défiance, la désunion, une certaine forme de mesquinerie, parfois de bassesse, devant les événements. »
Sad passions pose three problems for us: they are painful, influential, and contagious.
They are painful: they are emotions that cause suffering and resolve nothing when they are persistent. Like all emotions, they are only useful as warning signals, triggering awareness and action within us. When they persist, they are merely distressing.
Negative passions are influential: they readily lead us by the nose. And that's vexing.
Paul Valéry parlait, dans son essai L’Idée fixe, de « l’amertume et l’humiliation de se sentir vaincu par des choses mentales ».
Cioran notait, dans ses Cahiers, à propos de ses inquiétudes récurrentes : « Sentiment d’intolérable humiliation. Chaque fois que je suis en proie à de grands sentiments négatifs (et l’angoisse en est un), j’ai l’impression d’être un moins que rien, une honte de la nature. »
Finally, negative emotions are contagious: they readily pass from one mind to another; whether deliberately or not, we pass on our fears, resentments, and sorrows to others. Hence, if everyone gets involved, a toxic atmosphere can develop within families, at the office, or in society as a whole.
What's more, they're capable of self-reinforcing. I've seen this as a psychiatrist, in many of my patients: sad passions squared! In psychological terms: meta-emotions!
For example, depressed people are sad about being sad: they suffer from their sadness, and it saddens them that they cannot escape it, which intensifies it.
Phobics and panic sufferers are afraid of fear itself: they know that if they start to tremble, they will end up panicking.
Impulsive people are often angry (at themselves) for having gotten angry (at others). One exception is the politician Mélenchon: never angry about getting angry, only angry that he is being angered; there are people like that, for whom negative emotions are always directed at others.
But whether they are squared or simple, sad passions ruin our lives, both for individuals and for societies.
So what to do? It's simple: get moving, take action, help!
Move: walking liberates; movement lightens ruminations, and 10 minutes of brisk walking begins to dissolve sad passions.
To act: doing brings relief; sad passions are soluble in action, which diverts our attention from our own mental navel.
Helping others—doing good for them—reminds us of this profound truth: "helping helps both the helpers and those being helped." I don't have time to explain further, as I'm nearing the end of this column, but I hope you'll remember and reflect on it.
I conclude with the best of psychotherapeutic proverbs (it is said to be Chinese): "You cannot prevent birds from flying over your head, but you can prevent them from building a nest in your hair."
It works for sad passions too!
Illustration: a sample from my friend Carlotta's 1960s keychain collection. It has nothing to do with the subject of my text, but I like this little souvenir full of color and nostalgia.
PS : cet article reprend ma chronique du mardi 25 mars 2025 dans l’émission de France Inter, Grand Bien Vous Fasse.