I think that talking about upsetting things does steer conversations in upsetting ways. A lot of things happen all the time. The choice of what one talks about

I think that talking about upsetting things does steer conversations in upsetting ways. A lot of things happen all the time. The choice of what one talks about is informative. You can frame an event in both negative and positive ways. If you mention violence, but don't mention togetherness, solidarity, courage (or some other positive words), that's probably a negative framing. What's more, it's misguiding to say that people talk about things that happen. People talk about some of the things that happen. Media plays a big role in the selection. People also tend to adopt framings. Which is to say that people's happiness does depend on what's being talked about, if we agree that happiness is the positivity of thoughts held.