Pressure to feel upbeat can make you feel downbeat, while embracing your darker moods can actually make you feel better in the long run, according to a new study out of UC Berkeley.

We found that people who habitually accept their negative emotions experience fewer negative emotions, which adds up to better psychological health.

The results suggest that people who commonly resist acknowledging their darkest emotions, or judge them harshly, can end up feeling more psychologically stressed.

By contrast, those who generally allow such bleak feelings as sadness, disappointment, and resentment to run their course report fewer mood disorder symptoms than those who critique them or push them away, even after six months.

Read the source article at Greater Good

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Yasmin Anwar is a Media Relations Representative at UC Berkeley.