Before the church became such an important part of my life I never wondered about it because I was already happy. Even when miserable there were outlets and distractions to heal the bummed-out soul.
Once fully immersed in the whole church/temple experience, there was no cure for misery except to work harder at magnifying church expectations. Naturally, if things didn't seem happier, it was because I had not yet earned the reward that I sought.
Google didn't answer the question by telling me to work harder at church. It told me to do the things I already knew. It's just that church taught me that to pursue those healthy outlets was to cheat myself out of the joy the Lord had in store.
What someone on google did say was that the shortest path to happiness is to stop doing things that rob you of it.
Even when I was a TBM, I made sure my children kept their inborn capacity for happiness. And love, also.
The cult did its best to rob us of happiness and love, but it failed, because we still had enough self-confidence and courage to resign.
My grandchildren are still trapped in the endure-to-the-end cult, and I make sure they are being raised in joy and love. It's a sad commentary, that we must constantly fight against the Mormon cult, in order to have a normal, happy life, but this is the case with me and my family.
I'm glad you pointed this out. Mormonism always depressed me, but I never thought to ask myself why.