Dear Debbie:

Congratulations for successfully weaning off antidepressants after 22 years of use !

“can one choose to be happy? Is it really as ‘simple’ as choosing an attitude?”- I am defining “happy”, for the purpose of answering your question, as being overall content, often curious about life, willing to learn new things, and sometimes feeling joy.

According to this definition, my answer is: if one is not happy, and is not inclined to be happy, then one can choose to become happy, but it will take months and years of making better choices, insight into one’s past and present, learning and practicing new skills (such as Mindfulness, and Assertiveness), and an attitude of endless patience and empathy toward self-  so to accomplish the desired happy.

anita