Good to be grumpy

Posted Tuesday 5 January 2010

Should I be concerned that our communications officer told me I should write a blog about whether it is good to be grumpy? Perhaps he thinks that I moonlight writing comments on grumpy old sod.  

Or maybe it’s just because we’re all feeling a bit grouchy now that the festivities are over and trying to stick to all those new year’s resolutions is proving harder with each passing day.

Research from the University of New South Wales found that people who were put into a negative frame of mind acted in a more cautious manner, and through thinking things through more clearly than people who were in a positive frame of mind. So it isn’t about personality types and how that impacts on social interaction or thinking at all!

Other studies confirm that if you are in a bad mood you deliberate more on the issues than if you are in a good mood. Well, we can all think of occasions when our good mood or enthusiasm for an idea meant that the potential downside was not fully thought through.

Of course this doesn't mean that grouchiness is beneficial to wellbeing. No, in order to be a healthier person you’re going to have to engage in an activity defined by R. Parse as “buoyant immersion in the presence of unanticipated glimpsings prompting harmonious integrity which surfaces anew through contemplative visioning”. That’s have a laugh, to you and me. Now there’s a resolution worth keeping.

Bridget O'Connell, Head of Information

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5 Comments

• BoomerangJones replied on 6 Jan 2010 at 09:51

  I must admit that I often find myself at my most creative when I'm not in the happiest of moods - the darker element of the human consciousness I suppose leads us to think more and so the brain goes off at some interesting tangents. If it wasn't for my having gone through some intense depression and anxiety over the years the novel I'm working on right now would never have come about. Having said that I don't have to be sad to be creative and at the moment am taking plenty of exercise in an effort to keep my mood positive. Also, sometimes being too happy gets me in trouble in that I get over-confident and behave in a manner that if I was sad I would probably think 'Maybe I shouldn't do that!'

• Heidi replied on 6 Jan 2010 at 09:51

  Hello,

  I think it's very nice to be grumpy occasionally. I regularly stomp about the house, push delicate things over, grumble at silly people on television, stub my toe and hit my funny bone. Oooh, then I feel like a thunderstorm.

  I am creative and so I need to have a thunderstorm day to clear the air because I don't want to be a sweetly smiling cheshire angel all the time. I want to be a dominatrix and a devil sometimes too, it's empowering.

  But then after the storm passes, I feel so much lighter and I feel more responsible and wise. If you're happy and glee all the time you make yourself somewhat ignorant to half of life, you lose your empathy to the suffering.

  I wouldn't want to be grumpy every day though. I love having a great laugh with friends and to muck about carelessly too - that's when the sun comes out and I take my jumper off and put my cool sunnies on.

• Sue S replied on 8 Jan 2010 at 09:50

  I think there are useful aspects of grumpiness/low mood, for example being more aware of potential dangers etc. But it's important to balance that with brighter days otherwise we risk slipping into deep depression or alienating everyone around us.

  I used to always see the worst possible outcome in any given situation. It made me a very unhappy person. I am still learning how to see things differently, but already I have made great improvements in my mental state and my life in general, just by accepting that there are other ways to view things.

  As I say, IMHO balance is important.

• Teresa Lewis replied on 11 Jan 2010 at 09:35

  When you go on holiday don't be over optimistic and expect lovely sunny weather or on the other hand expect it to rain every day. Expect every kind of weather so you can be prepared. Pack wellingtons and umbrella as well as swimwear, sun tan lotion and sun glasses. Take short sleeved tops, sleeveless, long sleeved tops and a jumper and pile the lot on if and when it gets cold or windy on an evening out. Plan things to do indoors and outdoors.

  It's good to be grumpy now and then but don't make it a habit or lifestyle.

• Sarah Conlon replied on 11 Jan 2010 at 15:06

  The snow and cold weather makes me grumpy. I guess you can't help the weather, the cost of heating or the rising price of food!