PSYCHOLOGISTS SAY TOXIC POSITIVITY IS ON THE RISE
Ignoring tough emotions and acting happy all the time is called “toxic positivity,” and it’s not great for your mental health.
John-Paul Davies is a psychotherapist, and explains, “Toxic positivity is going straight to those feelings that we naturally want more of, like joy and happiness, and wanting to bypass the emotions that are more difficult to sit with. The reasons there’s a toxicity to it is that feelings are responses to things that are happening around us, so they need to be given space.
Chartered psychologist, Dr. Lynda Shaw, adds, “[…] there’s no such thing as good and bad feelings. All emotional states are valuable to our human experience, and anxiety, anger, and fear are primitive ways of keeping us safe and well.”
In other words, telling someone to “look at the bright side” when they are dealing with appropriate and understandable difficult feelings is harmful.
The experts say if you’re guilty of pushing positivity onto others, you should take the time to truly listen to them and understand what’s going on, and if you are pushing positivity on yourself you should try to honor all of your feelings, and speak to a professional if you need some help dealing with your emotions.
(Pulse Networks)