Is positivity really so daunting? This article is about avoiding toxic positivity. We think little of the person who insists on facing every day with brightness and good cheer. After all, their mood is their own. But the situation changes when this same person turns this mood in our direction and all but demands we share the same false enthusiasm regardless of the trial we are facing. This becomes false positivity, toxic positivity, and it is a brutal force to behold.
False positivity attacks self-worth and creates many problems that can tear people down and fill them with doubt. But is this as damaging as we think? Should we be making an effort when it comes to avoiding toxic positivity?
Definitely! Consider These Facts When Avoiding Toxic Positivity:
Toxic Positivity Has a High Emotional Cost
It is never good to only focus on one or two emotions while ignoring the rest. When we suppress our emotions, we start feeling as though we are doing the wrong things. We become guilt-ridden when things like sadness or anger rear up their ugly heads and try to force out positivity. This, in turn, breeds anxiety. You start to live in a state of worry and stress until the feelings you keep trying to blot out eventually explode in a way that cannot be ignored.
Toxic Positivity Makes it Hard to Process Grief
How is one supposed to work through the various stages of grief or to understand even what they feel from significant loss if they keep denying these feelings and instead grasp after states of toxic positivity? Telling people their loved one is in a better place can be painful on many levels and gives no room to feel lonely or sad, both of which are normal and even healthy emotions.
Toxic Positivity Can Lead to Dangerous Situations
While trying to look on the bright side seems harmless, this kind of positivity can lead us to think better of others even when we probably should not. Consider what happens when someone hurts you. This kind of positivity will make you more inclined to trust them again. Now imagine an abuser given the same absolution. Unfortunately, this is not an uncommon scenario. Toxic positivity can cloud your judgment when you insist on only seeing things in the best light.
Toxic Positivity Makes it Hard to Talk to Others
Why would you trust your thoughts or feelings with someone else when you feel they are being insincere by always being upbeat and happy no matter the circumstance? Being vulnerable enough to allow for intimacy is difficult when toxic positivity holds everyone at arm's length.
More Reasons For Avoiding Toxic Positivity
While there are many other reasons avoiding toxic positivity is a good thing, this sampling should give you some idea of the variety of ways this attitude can prove damaging to everything from self-esteem to how you relate to others. In the most extreme cases, it can even prove dangerous. It is no wonder avoiding toxic positivity should be on or near the top of our list of things to do at all costs.
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To see what Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, has to say about Toxic Positivity, CLICK HERE.