Can a person choose to be happy?

Can a person choose to be happy? A lot of people seem to think so, but I'm not so sure.

On a day when I am feeling ok, that's not very depressed but not completely well, I may be able to find something that will lift my mood. Music can often do this for me. Maybe I can find something I want to sing along to, that would be great. Is this choosing to be happy?

If I am feeling low, I will most likely be at home refusing to go out, and maybe in my bed trying to switch off from the world. When I'm like that, very little can lift my mood. Usually if I interact at all it is to feel guilty for not doing something. Like when I hear people out in their gardens working/mowing the lawn. Then I just feel overwhelming guilt. There is no choosing happiness there.

I can usually see the positives in a situation, but I will see the negatives first. Being able to see the positives does not make me able to feel happiness for them though.

No, I don't think a person can choose to be happy. I think that only a well person can do this.

I can give the appearance of being happy. When I interact with anyone other than tch I will put on 'the sparkle' and pretend to be happy and lively. The longer that I have to do this for, the more exhausted I will become. You'll notice I say that I have to do this, I say that because I can find no other way to cope with others. If I were to allow even a tiny bit of how I am really feeling come out, I think I might crumble completely. Then questions would be asked and I would have to talk about it.

I cannot talk about my mental health to anyone other than tch. Other people rarely understand depression and will often offer advice. Advice that they think will sort out 'my problem'. As if I wouldn't have tried this years ago already. People can usually only relate to their own experiences, so they remember how they felt when they were a bit low. That is not depression! That's like a person having a heart attack with someone trying to treat them for heartburn. Nuff said.