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Yes, Toxic Positivity Is A Thing
Welcome to toxic positivity and why it can actually be more harmful than you think
My father used to say, “Too much of anything is bad.” This goes for ANYTHING. A great example of this, is the use of “Positive Vibes Only” on social media and elsewhere, letting all the hurting, “negative” people know you are not here for their woes and problems.
I first learned about toxic positivity while browsing YouTube over the weekend. The YouTuber gave a great breakdown of what it means.
According to Verywellmind.com,
“Toxic positivity takes positive thinking to an overgeneralized extreme. This attitude doesn’t just stress the importance of optimism — it also minimizes and even denies any trace of human emotions not strictly happy or positive.”
I could probably be accused of this.
Many of us could be guilty of doing this. To ourselves…and to our friends and family.
This is not to say that being optimistic is wrong and that we should wallow in tragic optimism. There is a balanced way to view life rather than shutting someone down for feeling hurt. We’ll get to that later.
