It occurred to me over the weekend as I was attempting to lull my five week old baby to sleep that people are likely unhappy about raising children because of the level of stress it can create. It got me thinking that high stress = unhappiness, and low stress = happiness. Looking (briefly) at the research this appears to be true. Short and sweet. Reduce your level of stress and increase your level of happiness.
Taken one step further, self imposed stress (isn't it always) can destin people to unhappiness. This is particularly true given the principle of hedonic adaptation. The more we have, the more we need to feel happy. It may be stress associated with keeping up with the Jones' that is self-inflicted that brings us to a level of dissatisfaction and unhappiness. Of course, this race cannot be won. The likely end result is unhappiness in life. Therapy focused on those caught in this downward spiral could have a tremendously positive impact on the population it is able to reach.
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