There is a woman at work who drives me nuts with her “sighs”…you know, the somewhat loud groan of the world resting on her shoulders…she does this every time she has to lift a pencil to write something, or answer a phone, or in other words, whenever she has to work.
Got me to thinking…is there such a thing as an honest “sigh” or is it always the bellow of a lazy beast?
I’m a sigher also. It’s completely unconscious for me – a sign that I don’t breathe right or something? It has absolutely no meaning-content at all. It drives my sister batshit – it may drive other people batshit as well, but she’s the only one who’s ever said anything.
Bellow of a lazy beast?
Sometimes, a sigh really doesn’t mean anything.
– frequent sigher, whose nasal passages are way too small.
Sometime I’ll do one of those heavy, long-suffering sighs as a joke when I’m trying to goad my husband into something he doesn’t want to do (like cleaning or remodeling the bathroom). Or sometimes I’ll do it just because I’ve been working on something and not breathing very deeply. All of a sudden I realize that I’m probably a little tense, so I’ll take a deep breath and let it all out in a long sigh. It feels damn good, too.
I read somewhere that heavy sighing like that is a sign of stress. Okay, **url=“http://www.brelaxed.co.uk/page7.htm”] here’s a link.
Like overlyverbose, I sigh as a sort of tension-reliever/self-centering exercise. Either “Whoo, that was some intense work!” or “All right, let’s get started…”
Same with me. My husband is always asking me what’s wrong, and it catches me off guard. I do know I sometimes hold my breath when concentrating on something - maybe it’s my way of balancing that out?
It’s an allergy/sinus related thing for me. I have terrible, terrible allergies, and can’t really breathe effectively through my nose, so I am constantly sighing (and yawning) in an unconscious effort to get the air moving more efficiently through my system. I do occasionally get comments from people asking what’s bothering me, but it’s definitely not about being a drama queen, just breathing.
Author of OP here.
OK then, I was not aware there were real medical conditions.
Still…the only time I ever hear this woman sigh is when she is asked to get a file, when she is asked to type a memo, when she is asked to do anything. Otherwise she breathes quite normally, thank you very much, and my interpretation of those sighs is, “poor me has to do everything.” I think she is a big 'ol drama queen who wants to let everyone know she feels overworked, and considering her boss is out of town four days a week and she is a pro with solitare on the computer…but whatever.
Maybe she has a sinus condition.
I sigh all the time, although it isn’t loud or any kind of bellow. I don’t mean anything by it; it’s just something I feel like doing…kind of like stretching. But if there’s a girl or woman around they will invariably ask me what’s wrong.
Must be a girl thing. 
I’m a sigher too. You say she does it when she’s about to start a task? Maybe it is just a “Let’s get started” kind of thing. Anyway. I bet she doesn’t know she’s doing it.
I’m a sigher too. You say she does it when she’s about to start a task? Maybe it is just a “Let’s get started” kind of thing. Anyway, I bet she doesn’t know she’s doing it.
DMark – it’s quite possible she’s doing it consciously/deliberately to communicate the putuponedness of her life – there are such people and they all deserve to be smacked.
I read your question to be, are there people out there who sigh a lot who aren’t drama queens? And the answer to that – for me and for a bunch of the rest of us who have replied – is “yes.”
Now, rephrase the question as “isn’t this particular cow-orker who does this only when she’s asked to do something really, really annoying?” – I’ll be happy to pop back in and be the first to say “Hell yeah!”
No…it is a given that said co-worker is annoying, but it was enlightening to hear that there actually are “real” sighs that are not a subtle “woe is my crappy life” whines.
I guess not being a sigher, I just assumed all sighs were bad performance art. Guess I was wrong.
Perhaps it is a matter of timing…if you sigh because you just need to stand up and go out for some air, I guess that really is a lot different than if you sigh only when asked to do something and you want the requester to know they are imposing.
So - question asked, questhion answered. Thanks all!
Sighing serves the same purpose as closing your eyes and counting to five - it’s a healthy outlet for one’s emotions that helps keep you from hitting the person pestering you (or maybe smacking your head into the wall when you’re the idiot causing your mental anguish). You’d rather that she sigh than attempt to deck you, right?
Asthma makes me sigh. When my peak flow drops 5-15%, I sigh and yawn a lot. It is my first indicator that I should check my peak airflow. It especially happens at start/stop points on tasks, or when I switch from one activity to another.
From your description, it sounds like her sighing has more to do with drama.
I think that’s why my cat sighs so much. He’ll heave a big sigh, and when you look over at him he’s sitting in the prissy proper cat pose and looking at you like “Scuse me, but why are you not paying attention to me? I’m so pretty!”
Sometimes he heaves big sighs while he’s watching TV, too.
Ugh, my mother-in-law does this “HHHMmmmmm…” sigh which means “I’m so bored” or “You are boring me” or “No one is paying attention to me.” So hard to get the exact intonation in print; it’s a short, sharp sigh that starts on a high note and ends on a middle one and conveys all the boredom in the world. I literally grind my teeth whenever I hear it.
I sigh, too, but usually it’s noiseless. It accompanies a stretch and is the same as a yawn. I do it when I need air.
I sigh unconsciously when I’m thinking about something that stresses me out. I don’t even realize when I do it. My husband will look over at me and say, “Everything okay?” And I say, “Why do you ask?” and he says, “You just sighed.” “Oh, did I?” “Yeah.” “Oh. Sorry. I was just thinking about [unpleasant topic].”
I don’t do it to be a drama queen. I don’t even realize I’m doing it usually. But it is a genuine woe-is-me sigh.
Then again, heaving a big sigh when someone asks you to do something is just rude.