Society has been asking us to remain positive despite any situation to maintain our mental health. But we as a society overlooked the fact that feeling every emotion is part of life as far as feeling those emotions is healthy. Thus some of us suffer from Toxic Positivity.
Often, in a dire situation, do you feel overly positive, thinking difficulty will soon vanish? If you nod your head in affirmation, unfortunately, you are experiencing Toxic Positivity!
Read on to find out more and how to deal with it.
What is Toxic Positivity?
It is the belief that regardless of the gravity of the situation, people must maintain a positive attitude. Although an optimistic outlook towards life is encouraged, toxic positivity rejects grim emotions, instead of accepting a deceptive positive demeanor. Subsequently, the person is ill-equipped to deal with negative emotions, and that severely mars their mental health.
Life is a bouquet of roses and a bed of thorns, and we must learn to deal with thorns first and then smell the fragrant roses. Dealing with difficult situations honestly enables us to be better human beings. Toxic positivity hinders the ability to handle unpleasant emotions.
For instance, if you have recently lost a job, a spouse, a child, or a parent, do not suppress your grief. During this time, people may try to cheer you up by sympathizing with you. Although they mean well, their sympathetic comments may shut down your true emotions, and leave a void in your life.
Signs:
1) You Show a Happy Façade, Always
On social networks or social groups, are you always sharing smiling photographs, or showing your happy face? If yes, you may fear people seeing you in a “bad” light. You may not want to burden others with your sob stories, or you want to protect relationships or preserve the image of an ideal life.
However, the sooner you accept that life is imperfect, the faster you will free yourself from the burden of reaching impossible life standards. Additionally, you would be able to connect better with others and improve your social interactions.
2) You Prevent Yourself from Experiencing True Emotions
When averting the negative feelings from others, you deny yourself the experience of true emotions. Maybe you have been taught to ignore or suppress negative emotions, thinking they would mar your emotional and mental health. However, suppressing your emotions will lead to severe physical, mental, and emotional trauma, instead.
Blindfolding yourself to reality distances yourself from your family, friends, and social circle, as relationships need emotional intimacy to grow and nurture. Nonetheless, accepting the hard truths and working hard to beat them, and creating a new direction will certainly help you gain on all levels.
3) Guilty About Feeling Angry or Sad
Do you feel guilty when you experience a negative emotion like anger, pain, sadness, or depression when you see others in a worse state than you? Sometimes, it’s alright to experience guilt, but if it has become a habit, you are definitely suffering from toxic positivity.
You need to work hard at acknowledging negative emotions and naturally allow them to work through your mind; only then would you come out as a winner.
4) Suppressing Negative Feelings
As the adage goes, do you “find a silver lining in every cloud?”
Often, we are encouraged to believe that hardships lead to better days ahead, and subsequently, we manage to smile through our disappointments. But do we actually accept the disappointment, or brood that things could have gone worse?
The real challenge is to allow yourself to experience tumultuous emotions and offer yourself compassion, warmth, and a hug. That holds true for others as well. If someone is going through a hard time, simply lend your ears, and hug them tightly.
5) You Dislike Being in Presence of People Who do not Show Positivity Always
Your friends or families passing through a tough phase in their lives impacts your mood, too. You may tend to feel low energy and sadness when around them. However, unless you frequently feel these feelings around them, you should not distance yourself. Instead, lend them a shoulder to lean on, be an active listener, and if asked offer your genuine advice. Often, a warm hug does what words cannot.
Continue reading to find out more signs of Toxic Positivity by clicking here…
Originally published at https://divineyouwellness.com on August 26, 2021.
