Could Pressure to Be Happy Actually Drive Levels of Depression?
Striving to reach this hard-to-define goal can often be detrimental to mental health.
By David Levine, Contributor |Sept. 8, 2017, at 12:09 p.m.
The social and cultural expectation that people should feel happy can increase feelings of sadness and reduce well-being. (Mixmike/ Getty Images)
Happiness – or at least the pursuit of it – is written into our nation’s founding ethos. Yet, that very aspiration may be causing us harm. Brock Bastian, a social psychologist and associate professor in the School of Psychological Sciences at the University of Melbourne in Australia, focuses his research on questions of well-being and happiness. And he has come to a fascinating conclusion: Pressure to be happy often has the opposite effect, and it may actually promote depression.
http://health.usnews.com/health-care/patient-advice/articles/2017-09-08/could-pressure-to-be-happy-actually-drive-levels-of-depression
