• Question: what causes us to be happy or sad?

    Asked by leewwh to David, Helen, Ian, rhysphillips, Sarah on 15 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Rhys Phillips

      Rhys Phillips answered on 14 Jun 2011:

      Well for me, science, music and comedy are three things which make me happy – songs by Coldplay make most people sad I think…

      You were probably looking for an answer involving hormones and/or the brain but that’s not my area I’m afraid!

    • Photo: Helen Fletcher

      Helen Fletcher answered on 14 Jun 2011:

      chocolate happy, no chocolate sad.

    • Photo: Ian van der Linde

      Ian van der Linde answered on 15 Jun 2011:

      How we feel is a combination of our environment, our genetic makeup, and the chemicals in our brain at that moment. Some people are naturally happy or naturally unhappy, some people have a hard life that makes them unhappy and others have good life that helps to make them happy! The chemicals in our brain at a particular moment can affect how happy or sad we are – these change according to what we eat, how much sleep we’ve had, if we’ve been exercising, who we’re around, and so on. It’s a very complicated mixture of factors!

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