'inner sadness' is a correct and usable phrase in written English.
It is a way to describe the emotional state of feeling sad on the inside, even when you appear to be happy or neutral on the outside. For example, "Despite her cheerful disposition, she was hiding inner sadness deep inside her heart."
In retrospect, he seemed to have an inner sadness, and only rarely smiled.
This scene is particularly bittersweet with Clark Gable describing Monroe's inner sadness.
No wonder she seems to have difficulty, in "Are You Satisfied?", reconciling inner sadness with outer satisfaction.
Alex Jennings is a joy as Bennett, but this is Smith's film: her comically cantankerous exterior masking an inner sadness.
Though this is a witty and skillfully scored neo-Rococo suite, in Grieg's hands the Gavotte and Rigaudon are touched with the heavy-footed bounce of Norwegian folk dance as well as some inner sadness.
"I do sense an inner sadness, I don't think he wants to be in the position he is in – he feels an estrangement from certain aspects of his roots, certain parts of the international art world.
A genre-defying story of a girl's inner turmoil, it portrays her emotions as characters - Joy, Sadness, Fear, Anger and Disgust - who live inside her mind.
Some cited the inner sense of sadness that she continued to live with following the death of her mother, Paula Yates, in 2000.
The tendency for depression was evaluated by using the Montgomery and Asberg Depression Scale (MADRS) [29], a commonly used scale derived from the Comprehensive Psychiatric Rating Scale which contains 10 items (apparent and reported sadness, inner form, reduced sleep and appetite, concentration difficulties, lassitude, inability to feel, pessimistic, and suicidal thoughts) rated from 0 to 6.
Concerning the MADRS, unipolar patients had greater Reported and Apparent sadness, Inner tension, Reduced appetite, Psychomotor inhibition and Inability to feel.
The scale consists of 10 sevenary items asking for apparent and reported sadness, inner tension, reduced sleep, reduced appetite, concentration difficulties, lassitude, inability to feel, pessimistic, and suicidal thoughts.
