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Quote:
Originally Posted by cuppajoe_9
Ok, well, thanks. It wasn't crystal clear( to me, but I guess I am stupid) that you were referring to one specific book because you wrote that there were a number of them...Quote:
Originally Posted by cuppajoe_9
sorry to have bothered you with my foolish question.
No problem, it was worded poorly.
Perhaps I saw sarcasm in your post when none was intended.
*edit* if that was the case, then I apologize.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cuppajoe_9
I do believe that people with strong religioun are happier than the other ones because they always believe that there is more in life , this strong belief in god gives inner feeling of relief and happiness , you feel that you are not alone ,I know that you are an athiest but I'm not, and I do feel better when I pray , I feel that theres someone who's watching over me , to help me and I think that somehow makes me feel better , but I'm not a very religious person so maybe thats why I'm not totally happy or maybe its not all about religioun maybe its also about something else ,life for example , things like money and success can make you feel happy but not for along time , and some people think its love what makes you happy but I think that the problem in our brains thats why children and fools are the happiest people at all !
and about these books I agree with you ,maybe it helps a little bit but not too much .
Perhaps it is a combination of things, (religion, success, family, love...) that make people happy. I think people are too complex to say the source of happiness is just one thing.
Depression in and of itself has been considered by most physicians as not only a"mental" disorder, but a physiological condition. No one treatment for various mental illnesses can work magic for everyone, but there are things that people can do to help themselves. As someone who has depression, anxiety and PTSD, I know for myself that attempting to be proactive and try to work at making myself feel better helps me. Being proactive is not necessarily reading a self help book, though. I tend to be a bit mistrustful of those.
I don't believe it is truly possible to even know what is the real and only cause of depression in any one person. Something could have happened in the womb, or wrong food causing the brain to sort of fog like when someone has hypoglycemia. Or a temporary chemical imbalance caused by a viral illness or despair from the death of a loved one. Abandonment, divorce, you name it.
Or just the hardness of life.
I suffered a severe depression after the birth of my first surviving child and I believed in God and nothing helped. If you read many of the prophets in the Bible such as Elijah they suffered from time to time severe depression. He asked God to let him die and God did a strange and simple thing. He sent an angel to give him food, water and told him to go to sleep and get rest.
For me I was too lost to do much except survive for a while.Then I made myself start walking, first a little, later a lot, really watched my nutrition and intake of sugar, and STAYED AWAY FROM THOSE ACCURSED SELF HELP AND HELPFUL BOOKS.I just sort of felt my way thru from day to day and I did a lot of self talk and writing in a diary and that really helped. In time I was fine. I still have my moments. I dont' think for a moment it means God has left the person, if there is one and I believe there is which really didn't help because I couldn't believe He just let me stay like that.
I think it can be the smallest of things and we each of us have to figure out what the root is and work away at it. In serious situations of course a person needs medical help if for no other reason than to get thru the horror of it if it is that bad.
But drugs really in my opinion often cause more trouble than help and vitamins could be just as effective along with a really good health regime and rest and someone to talk to.
What I am stumbling along to say is.............I have no definitive answer.
Happiness is highly overrated. I mean, would there be any books had it not been for misery and unhappiness? don't think so. And were would we all be then?
I'm sure it's true, but it doesn't help me, because I don't believe in God, and I'm not going to without deluding myself, which would probably make me more unhappy.Quote:
Originally Posted by samah
That's very true, but it still sucks for the people who have to be unhappy to write those books.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sabo
cuppajoe_9: I'm not so sure about that. People who think there are happy usually just haven't realised their unhappiness. keep looking deep inside for some time and you're bound to end up either crazy or depressed.
The harder you look, the more likely you are to see something, and the more you focus on what you find the bigger it becomes.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sabo
It all depends on what you are looking for. :)
I can't agree more.Quote:
Originally Posted by cuppajoe_9
REVIVED
.........
This is the closest definition of what I can think of a person being happy. Its a combination of all of what is mentioned in Kathy's post.Quote:
Originally Posted by kathycf
I am the happiest when I am the busiest, it gives me a feeling of some worth. I feel extremely satisfied at the end of the day when I have spent it constructively. Being around with positive people helps, as it is when one is depressed, feeling of self esteem and self worth has hit the lowest, and being around with encouraging people works. I cant comment on religion because I dont practice it, so dont know how it will help a person become happy.
I am not sure if the self-help books really work, because, whenever I am not feeling happy and have read these (not specifically these books, but more serious stuff, meditative, spiritual, etc.) my head becomes so heavy and I start thinking even more, more in terms of the situation becoming even worse. This stuff never has helped me get out of a sticky situation. Being involved in some work, that produces some result has :nod:
The person who reads such books certainly becomes a great thinker (someone who can analyse the situation very well), but how effective solution finder the person becomes is something I would like to know.
Back on that "Science of Happiness" stuff...
...I say "Eh..."
...It tends to get annoying, you know? Science can prove this...Science can prove that...Yeah, yeah...I know, I know. There are somethings that science can prove but...
...It's just...Well, it's just annoying sometimes.
...Especially when science goes into the "emotion" section.
*Sigh*
...Digging too deep to find an answer that has been right in front of you this whole time...
Discovering the science behind emotion isnt just for fun though. The more we learn about how we work, the more we can help society and humanity. Clinical depression is a serious problem, if we learn about the workings of our minds we might be able to find ways to help people who are depressed.