Research suggests that happiness isn't quite that simple. It's not obvious which direction the causation arrow points. See for example this podcast on the topic:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-happiness-lab-with...

I know plenty of curious and well-resourced people who are depressed.

You would think, reading what you wrote, that when we walk into ghetto elementary schools that we see little kids sitting there dull, insipid, and sullen who don't do well on basic tests of learning, (even if perhaps they aren't well taught how to read). This would be a completely false assumption.

There are plenty of people with hereditary wealth who are otherwise very ordinary, and not particularly happy, too.

I never mentioned money / wealth.

Think about good health, no depression, loving parents and/or partners, no previous crippling / traumatic experience, absence of all these things that drain energy from a human being.

You had me agreeing with you there until you recommended highly addictive drugs with questionable benefit as the primary intervention.

They're just stating facts. Good or bad, antidepressants help people cope with life just as opioid help people deal with physical pain. Chronic usage can become a problem, but short term usage is unquestionably beneficial for many people.

Sometimes your mental state is so bad you can't make any decision or improve your current situation. Maybe you're working during the day and dealing with your family the rest of the time and feel stuck and sinking. Antidepressants can help dissipate the fog in your mind, allowing you to think clearly and actually make the decisions you needed to make and improve your live to a point where they are not needed anymore. You also talk with the doctor prescribing the drugs, if it's not improving how you feel they will suggest other solutions.

Also I totally agree with parent. Decent material conditions and the knowledge that they are stable are absolutely needed for a healthy and flourishing mind.

My first single dose of antidepressant changed my life when I was stuck in depression and anxiety. A few years later, remembering that it worked so well, it brought me to the verge of addiction with no benefits. From my perspective antidepressants work but are extremely dangerous.

It’s a bit strange to hear antidepressants called “addictive”. It’s true that some SSRIs, for some people, need to be tapered off before stopping (though I think in some cases this is overblown), but they are not habit-forming in the sense that, say, smoking is.

Anecdotally, I’ve gone off Zoloft after years of daily use without any side effects more seriously than temporarily being a little mopey.

As for benefit … we’ll, in raw numbers plenty of people see some benefit. Given the low side effect profile they’re worth trying as a first line of defense for therapy-resistant anxiety and depression. Particularly severe depression may require interventions such as ECT, but for mild to moderate cases a combination of an SSRI and CBT is often pretty effective.

SSRIs aren't necessarily highly addictive, you need to taper off, but you it's not opioids...

They're not addictive unless you also count insulin as "addictive", in that if people who need it stop getting their symptoms come back. shrug

Antidepressants are proven as a treatment against depression. They're not without risk but the benefits far outweigh them.