Is It Normal to Feel Sad After Doing Research? (I Think So)

R3ciprocity.com - Prof David Maslach: Innovation; Research Life; Striving Towards Happiness · Jul 16, 2025 · 6m

This podcast is a bit of a diary. I treat myself like a Petri dish. And I just have to say it—after I sit and read and think and work through research, I almost always feel this deep sadness. Not because the ideas aren’t exciting (they are, sometimes!), but because the process is cognitively demanding, isolating, and just… heavy.

I’ve tried things—exercise helps. Face-to-face interaction helps. But there’s still this crash. That yuckiness at the end of the day.

I don’t know if it’s just me. I don’t think so. I think it’s the nature of the work. So I’m trying to figure it out—how to build a…