Over-optimism: Understand the evils of toxic positivity

Optimism is a very good and even admirable quality, but like everything else in life, it can be harmful when in excess. the positivity toxic it is conceptually defined as an obsession with positive thinking and can be difficult in your relationships. Let's talk a little more about this concept and what it can imply in your life.

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the toxic positivity

This is the action of thinking positively in all situations, even the worst possible ones. This excess of positivity is considered negative because it is a way of silencing emotions that are not so good, which that hides true feelings and makes people feel pressured to pretend to be happy all the time whole. This excess of optimism begins to minimize or invalidate certain negative emotions and events.

In this way, individuals begin to feel guilty for having normal reactions. An example of this is when there is a situation of loss by death. People often say that “everything happens for a reason”. This phrase, despite seeming to be comforting, is also a way of ignoring or clouding the other's grief.

It's as if toxic positivity denies people all the support they really need to deal with what they're feeling. Instead of providing this support, she treats the context and such feeling as banal, which can make the subject feel wrong for feeling bad at that particular moment.

Phrases like “look on the bright side”, “it could be worse”, “thinking negative won't help anything” and “everything has a reason for happening”, really encourage this false idea, so they should be avoided.

Of course, it's important to have a positive outlook on life, as this influences your mental well-being, but life is not 100% good all the time, so it is necessary to live and deal with negative experiences and emotions. They play a fundamental role in their formation as person, so they need to be truly lived and felt.