Toxic positivity

Toxic positivity is the overgeneralization of a happy, optimistic state resulting in the denial & invalidation of the authentic human emotional experience.

Toxic positivity is when positive thinking becomes a rule rather than an option. It's important to experience your emotions, including sadness, anger, frustration, fear, jealousy, regret, and grief. Shutting it out with "good vibes only" doesn't help anyone.

What is toxic positivity, and is it keeping you from exploring your true emotions? The wellness experts at Onsite break it down.

A quote from Dr. Susan David, who appeared on Dare to Lead with Brené Brown on March 8, 2021.

Toxic positivity imposes positive thinking as the only solution to problems, demanding that a person avoid negative thinking or expressing negative emotions. While being optimistic in situations is usually a good thing, there is a point where positivity can be something negative. We should always strive to see the best in situations but sometimes that is not possible. In some events, it is okay to be negative and feel emotions such as anger and sadness. It is impossible to feel positive all…

Don't get me wrong, I'm ALL for positivity and it's GREAT to feel good and to focus on everything that's RIGHT in your world. However, there's a fine line between positivity and TOXIC positivity. The fact is, things DO go wrong; we DO get hurt; GRIEF happens and sometimes we are rightfully SAD. Denying all of our negative emotions and feelings is NOT a healthy thing to do..... it's TOXIC to our systems. If negative emotions are consistantly stifled and denied our bodies will find alternative…

Positivity is good for well-being as long as it is not used to avoid or suppress negative emotions either. Then, it becomes toxic positivity.

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