It Encourages Silence
Forcing a positive outlook encourages people to stay silent about their struggles, and try to pretend that everything is always okay. Toxic positivity encourages shame about being “weak,” therefore, perpetuating silence. Studies show that bottling up troubling thoughts and feelings can cause more stress on the body. Verbalizing emotions or crying about them removes the tension out of our bodies. It’s what keeps our bodies healthy and our minds sane. A healthy expression of emotions improves our overall quality of life. Without embracing the good, bad, and the ugly – people are at risk of suffering stress-related diseases.
It Causes Isolation
Denying who we are means losing our sense of self. We begin to live inauthentic lives and become increasingly disconnected from everyone and everything around us. This is why it’s important to learn when positivity is helpful and when it’s harmful.
How To Recognize Toxic Positivity
Here are some of the ways toxic positivity can manifest in everyday life: Dismissing difficult emotions, feeling guilty for feeling a certain way, invalidating other people’s feelings with feel-good statements, reminding people that others have it worse, and shaming people for expressing negative emotions. Instead of focusing on the positives blindly, let’s aim for balance. The acceptance of good and bad things in our lives is part of being human. It’s normal, it’s cathartic and it’s what defines the human experience.