To answer these two questions very directly, I shall begin with one assumption that we all can agree upon. That is this: anyone who takes his or her own life must have been unhappy with life. Though several internal and external factors might have contributed to that final decision, very central were hopelessness, dissatisfaction, and a desire to bring about immediate change.

Hopelessness (or loss of hope) is a state of belief and feeling that a better time is not possible anymore. Dissatisfaction is what ensues when one’s desires (or hunger) become unrelenting and overwhelming. The desire for immediate change is a cry for a happier life—not just any change.

Understandably, reasonably, or logically, were there enough hope, and diminished hunger, a happier life could have been conceivable, with suicide out of consideration.

Hope seems, therefore, directly, and positively related to happiness whereas hunger has a negative association—making hope and hunger seem as the opposite sides of the same coin. This fascinating relationship between hope, hunger, and happiness can be best and most accurately expressed in a simple mathematical language—which precisely says that: Hope / Hunger = Happiness.

This equation, which I have dubbed The Triple-H Equation, is essentially implying the following:

When we think of happiness as........

© Psychology Today