Why are Mormons so happy?

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How is that different from other religions or even atheists for that matter?
 
More seriously…Years ago research showed Utah, SLC, that general area as showing the highest use of anti-depressants. I also read an article why one can’t just assume that LDS are more depressed. If people need anti-depressants there should be no shame in using them. I do think that there is a culture in which appearances are important, in part as a witness to others. Feeling the pressure to keep up appearances, the frustration with not living up to (one’s own, even) expectations might be erroneously treated with ADs.
 
I totally agree with you. I just think more Mormons are okay with going to get treatment. Many people who need anti depressants don’t even go get it
 
Humans are human—with all good and bad qualities. Sooner or later, the real face will present itself.

But, I prefer a smile over a frown or an indifference. A smile signals a warm welcome and a willingness to interact. More things can be accomplished with a smile. The world is brighter with a smile than not.
 
To the point of your original post, Mormons are “happy and wholesome”. My point is that Mormons have their own difficulty and challenges like anyone else…
 
Randolph said:
A smile signals a warm welcome and a willingness to interact
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To you, and a lot of other Americans. But redbetta described a cultural difference. A smile can signal insincerity to some. And I’m not saying it’s okay to be a grump, one can be pleasant without wearing a smile.
 
If I smile when you’re with me, you know it’s genuine. That’s the way I like to see it.
 
SacredHeartBassist said:
Where do you live where every catholic is full of joy? Because where I live every catholic besides the priests seem to be nominally catholic
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I live in the Philippines which is 85% Catholic. Masses have an average attendance of 80%. Most of the Catholics I know are happy.
 
A smile, of course, can often be disingenuous and insincere, and can also often mask underlining deception and malice. But, with all things considered, the world is better off, and is brighter with more smiles than not.

A smile is contagious, and is a good thing… It offers hope…
 
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We are promised heaven. Mormon men are promised to be god of their own planet.

The women?

I have no idea.
 
It is a good thing. But people from different cultures have different perceptions on levels of expressiveness. Where one might see an always giggly person as someone whose really happy, another might see them as an air head and another as a faker.

I just keep a straight face on most of the time because it doesn’t take any effort.
 
Bruised_Reed said:
I do think that there is a culture in which appearances are important, in part as a witness to others. Feeling the pressure to keep up appearances, the frustration with not living up to (one’s own, even) expectations might be erroneously treated with ADs.
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Bingo! I can testify to this from my own experience. It’s not as prevalent among Mormons in California compared to Utah, Idaho, and Arizona, but it’s still definitely there. Orders of magnitude worse for Mormon women who not only have to keep up the image of a Happy Go Lucky Mormon but also the trophy wife to a hotshot Mormon priesthood holder and mother to 7 children, all without ever complaining.
 
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Everyone has the right to express themselves in anyway they deem fit. I don’t dispute that.
 
Randolph said:
But, with all things considered, the world is better off, and is brighter with more smiles than not
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I think you are hung up on your own cultural perception. But I also don’t know if you mean a huge grin or a Mona Lisa smile. A couple of people have told me I always look like I’m up to something because I usually have as slight smile/smirk on my face. I figure that creeps out some people.
 
I am an American. I have been very fortunate to have been able to travel to over 30 countries and most continents. I have lived in 4 countries for a significant time. I have noticed and have been told by many that Americans smile a lot. I take it as a compliment. I just wish that, despite all the problems we have and all the problems in the world, we would smile more and more people would do it—to the extent that they can.

A smile is contagious, and it opens doors for us to connect with and to influence people. A smile is not an American thing—it is a human thing…
 
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Randolph said:
A smile is contagious, and it opens doors for us to connect with and to influence people. A smile is not an American thing—it is a human thing…
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As are frowns and tears. They, too, are human things. The cultural expectation to always show the world the former but never the latter is what’s being criticized here. It’s not healthy to expect individuals to behave like emotional teflon.
 
That would be quite a generalization, albeit a positive one. I have never pressed for details, but on the surface the LDS folks I have known have indeed seemed to be be happy. I have only known one Mormon whose veracity I doubt; that woman could have told me that 2x2=6 and probably passed a polygraph, so I have no idea if she was truly happy. I also know that two of their missionaries knocked on my door on a very bad night and looked at me like I had an arm growing out of my head when I asked them to pray for me.

The article I’m posting is a bit old, but is nonetheless illustrative since SSRIs are a long-term thing. I guess the point is that none of us have any inherent secret of happiness apart from that which God gives us.

http://articles.latimes.com/2002/feb/20/news/mn-28924
 
We have not up to now been talking about other human emotions. Of course, frowns, tears, sorrows, griefs. etc… have their own legitimate places in the wide sprectrum of human emotions and condition.

We are just talking about a smile. While it does not solve all things, it is a good thing…
 
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This was the Mormon culture where I grew up. The local dentist was a Mormon and they appeared to be a picture-perfect, gorgeous, happy family. His daughter was my friend.

I happen to know that while they were fairly happy, there was intense pressure behind the scenes for them to always appear completely happy and content. Apparently, their church thought that if they appeared sad or overwhelmed with life, people would realize that Mormonism was a lie and not the perfect answer to all of life’s problems. So she always had to be “on” and a perfect Barbie girl.

This isn’t local to Mormons though. On the other side of the tracks were some ultra-conservative fundies who also thought that appearing sad in public gave Christianity a bad name, so they were always smiling and happy in public, too.
 
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