Gettyimages.com/Young woman traveling in subway car.
It’s hard to think of tragedy as something to which a person could be addicted. Surely nobody wants to be around sad events or feel depressed, right? Well, it’s not really about what a person wants but more how their brain is hardwired. It’s common for someone who, perhaps, suffers a tragic event when they are young to develop certain coping or defense mechanisms in their brain that make them forever look for tragedy in life. Tragedy actually makes them feel, oddly, safe. Or at least, it’s familiar. Looking at the positive, good things in life can leave them on edge because that is how they felt right before the tragic event occurred—and they were knocked off their feet. They remain in a tragic place, so as to never be shocked back into one. One can understand how the brain does this, to protect itself, but it’s a rather unfortunate way to go about life. And, it will repel individuals who are positive, happy, and want to avoid devastation. Are you addicted to tragedy and drama?
Gettyimages.com/A young woman is serious as she holds a pair of eyeglasses and sits on a living room couch with an unrecognizable friend. She is asking her advice on a matter of concern.
You take all conversation to a sad place
You feel that the goal of a conversation is to draw out the tragedy or sadness in topics brought up. You only feel satisfied with a conversation if, by the end of it, people are sharing the things about which they are sad/depressed/angry. You don’t really do conversations that are just for enjoyment. You feel most connected to someone if they cry to you, or you cry to them.
