Is happiness a choice?

I think happines depend that the person who want to be happy. If you want to be happy by your own is not necesary to involve people that aren´t happy whit her life. Being positive , like you said, is one of the betters ways to forget all around the depression and another and I think better way is pray God for mercy and grace.. have a nice day!!

Hello,carrie1390!As for me,I can not choose to be happy when I am suffering a bad depression!Although I know I should be happy,I still can not keep in a happy situation!Sometimes I feel be unhappy!In a word,I believe that owning a happy mood is very important for our health!

I think a lot of times, happiness is not a choice at all. Like you I have had people tell me to "get over" or "move on" when I am done, and I hate it because I say to them "do you think that I want to feel sad and bad about myself?" The fact is that even without clinical depression, sometimes we just cannot help ourselves out of sadness and other negative feelings. Like you said, it can be helped by trying to think of only good things, but it takes work, it can't just be done with a snap of the fingers and poof, happy is back.

Happiness is always a state of mind and not a matter of choice. Just as we feel sad so do we feel happy. Depression peeps in when we brood over a matter which is not in our hands. We feel sad and neglected as if we are the only person suffering on earth. But when your thinking and attitude is postive no one can stop you from being happy. And when you are happy you can also make others happy.

i think, both serotonin levels and your state of mind has something to do about your depression... try to take things easy, if you are hurt, accept it... and try to move on... if your upset, try to look at the brighter side of it... i hope you'll get through this =)

I think happiness is a choice we make, but depression somewhat blocks this choice. I have been battling depression for the past 3 years. There are times when I can completely control it and feel happy. But there are also times when I just can't be happy no matter what I do. There are different days when I didn't get enough sleep and just feel grouchy, those are days that I can "get over it" and choose to be happy. If it is a hot and humid day I fell lethargic and tired and it is really hard to choose to be happy, but I can do it. If I forget to take my medication and something triggers my depression, these are times that I don't feel like I have a choice. If you have never truly felt depression than you really don't understand what it can feel like. It is completely different from just feeling bad or having a bad day. It is like a huge cloud hanging over your head and you have no control over it. I think a lot more people need to be sensitive with this subject, especially when their friends are talking about it, because it's not something you can just "get over." I think the insensitivity from friends can increase the depression and make it worse.

Depression is an inbalance of chemicals sending the wrong signals or confused signals to the brain. Sometimes the signals are misfiring. It's not a choice that you do this.

clinical depression is very hard to "get over", as you said, you can't just wish it to go away. one thing i don't like is that people think depression is a purely psychological thing, it's not, it's physiological too. almost all psychiatric problems are physiological. It's the same as telling a cancer patient to get over it and get better already. trying to see something positive in everything does help though, if only a little. I try to find something good even in the worst situations. i even look back in time remembering the night i almost got raped and laugh, after all, i did stab the guy in the hand, was a good lesson for him... shouldn't attack under age girls, they might have knifes lol...

When I was younger was I completely sure that happiness was a choice. "Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be" by Abraham Lincoln was one of my favourite quotes at that time, and I honestly believed that everyone could just choose to be happy. Now I have been through a number of depressions, and I have had to change my opinion about the topic. Depression is a chemical imbalance in the brain and I don't think that it is possible to change that imbalance just by thinking positive. I still believe that postive thinking is useful in many situations, but I don't think that it is enough to cure a depression.

YES Happiness is a Choice!! But is more then a choice, not only do you have to choose to be happy, you have to make a conscious effort to be happy. The first step...Smile, ALL THE TIME, no matter what your mood. Sometimes this will be difficult to do, but the more you smile the less bad you feel, even if you feel a little ridiculous smiling for no reason...We do not smile because we are happy, we are happy because we smile. Bi-polar you said, so you know, beyond a shadow of a doubt that your mind can not be negative and positive at the same time, when you are down, you are down. When you are up you are up. But what if when you are down, you starting remember what it feels like to be up. You smile, and think of happy things. Second, watch what you let into your mind. Everything we think, see, hear, feel, smell, taste is constantly being recorded into our minds and souls. The more negative we bring in, the more negative we feel. Focus on the positive and be happy. Do NOT watch, read or listen to the news!! When was the last time, the news was more positive then negative? CNN-Constant Negative News. Do not talk about people, gossip is horrid. Small minded people talk about people, while brilliant people talk about thoughts and ideas. We are constantly being programmed, by the media, by our friends, by our thoughts. Why not CONTROL the programming. I am not saying this is easy by any means, It is very simple though. As a Man Thinketh he is. I would HIGHLY suggest reading As A Man Thinketh by James Allen. It is old, and not gender neutral, but every he, him, his, is just as applicable to every girl on the planet as well. There are many books on the subject of becoming happy. Two more I suggest are The Servant Soul, and the Secret. Through constant effort and training, you can make your mind ignore the negative and only focus on the positive. ~it is working for me~ Just two things left. One is a way of problem solving that let's us build positive energy. Instead of thinking, what is wrong, and how can I fix it. Let us all ask these 5 questions when we face a problem. 1)What is right? 2)What makes that right? 3)What would be ideal? 4)What isn't quite right yet? 5)What will it take? to (fill in your vision here, what ever your ideal may be), for the highest good of myself and everyone involved? Finally, I would like to invite you to join me and all my friends in the 30 day mental cleanse. http://30daycleanse.com - Sign up and join us, you will be happy you did. Cheers.

Hello.. I think, happiness is a choice/decision.. We can be happy if we want to, only if we learn how to be contented on what we have and we are right now and learn to appreciate and cherish it. but if the blessing doesn't come nice, then i think, that's just a trial for us given by God to see how far is our faith for Him or, it's God plan for us. Happy mylotting

Hi carrie.. I think being happy is a choice...yes it is. You on the right track if you feeling 'blue' you just 'get over it' because it will open your happiness. there are some options in this life..happy or unhappy..so what would you like to be?... Keep positive thingking for all about your life..just make yourself happy ..:)

I have had the exact same trouble most of my adult life. Even now it is hard to make some friends and family truly understand. There is a big diffrence between suffering with depression and justs feeling blue. It is only the past five years I have been able to control my own depression and stop taking the serotonin re-uptake inhibitors and been lucky enough to be able to control it by watching my diet and making sure my blood sugar level does not fluctuate wildly like in the past, which I found tended to bring on the low feelings. This seems to work well for me but I do not know if it is the same for everyone. I do hope maybe it could be of some help to someone else.

Hello. I am from China. Glad to meet you. I believe when we live in the world, the most important thing is to be happy. Happiness can make your life colourful. When you are happy,you can eat well,rest well,stury well, work well. If you are not happy,you do not want to do anything.You can choose happiness or sadness, and at the same time , you are choosing your way of living. Happiness can help you to succedd.You can not control the weather,you can not control, however , you can control yourself. Come on,guys. Smile to yourself.

Unless there is an underlying medical reason, then yes it is a choice.There is a saying, if life gives you lemons, you make lemonade.

I think it is. However , it may vary from case to case and person to person. Like many people feel happy even in grave situations and a few live a grave life even when the rays of happiness shows them thier good future. I have met many people who do not like to accept that they are happy and would liek to bask under self sympathy and sadness. So, happiness is a matter of choice. :)

I think happiness is a choice for the reason that we have the ability to control our minds by allowing good and pleasant thoughts to enter in our mind. We have the choice to be happy or not, to be miserable or not, to dwell on the past or not. We have the choice if we want to ruin our life and be miserable forever or choose to be happy and productive. Being productive can make a difference to ensure our mind would not think of any garbage thoughts. Happy mylotting

I think happiness is a state of mind and sometimes it is just an emotion. I do not think everyone can or will ever be happy. Some people have depression that emotion or state of mind cannot always fix or take away that depression.

Yes, feeling happy is but a state of mind. But, it is also caused by an imbalance in your hormones. Hence, you can actually lift your mood by eating certain food. But, this claim is not proven. I feel better if I eat dark chocolate but it is again subjective. You may get a migraine if you eat dark chocolate. To be happy, you need to force yourself to see only the positive and ignore the negative as long as possible. After a point the state of mind may become a habit if you let it. You are on your way to a life of joy. :)

I think happiness is a choice. If you choose happiness you will foget the depression and do something that make you happy. So tell yourself to choose the hapiness.