People naturally want to be happy. Can you think of a case where a person would choose to be unhappy?

when you stay in an abusive relationship

Example:
a person who is married to someone they dont love or are unhappy with but stay for the sake of a child or other societal pressure.They have chosen unhappiness rather than the wrath of society.

People do NOT naturally want to be happy. Naturally, people want to survive. That is all. Even in “happy situations” our innate problem solving abilities lead us to find problems . . . and, thus, unhappiness.

It is a quagmire you see.

To answer your question more directly, I would rather know the truth than be happy. There you go.

You started with a false premise and an inaccurate generalization. All people do not want to be happy, if that can be defined to any satisfaction.

Besides, what one person needs to be happy might make another choose to be unhappy. Anyone who is unhappy, obviously chooses to do so. Happiness is a chosen response to a stimulus, just as is unhappiness.

I have known people exposed to the same situations. Some choose to remain happy despite the situation. Others choose to be unhappy in response to the situation.

Did you ever consider the possibility that some people may not know what “happy” really is–that we have never really experienced true happiness and therefore cannot experience it. I’m bipolar and everyday is a roller coaster- sometimes I “think” I’m happy and then the next thought is as dark as suicidal. I believe it’s just a word that makes all of us want more, buy more, have more and still do not achieve the goal…the infamous happiness.

mostly, people do what they think is beneficial to their survivalism, as humans and all animals do. regular people will seem very happy, and want to be happy, but people with social disorders like schizotypal disorder or anti-social disorder will usually be very unhappy and isolated in thier attempt to do what they think is best for their survivalism.

People choose to be happy or unhappy for their own reasons, because they hope to get something out of it. Often the choice and behaviors attached to it go ‘way back to early childhood, and decisions the child made based on the child’s experiences. That’s too bad, because children know so little about life, yet they make decisions that affect their entire lives!

And yes, I can think of many cases where a person chose unhappiness, and even when it was made clear that that’s what they were doing, they continued to prefer unhappiness to happiness. Can’t tell you about those people because they were clients over the years. — Dr. Bob

heh, i know this is a sutpid response, but watch some episodes of House M.D.