What is Toxic Positivity and What are the Signs?

2022-07-12T08:00:54+00:00

By Publisher

When you think of toxicity, the chances are that you’re thinking of overwhelming negativity. You might have someone in mind who is constantly giving off negative vibes, or you might remember your unhealthy addiction to something. Indeed, these things represent one form of toxicity or the other. However, one peculiar form of toxicity that doesn’t get so much attention is toxic positivity.At this point, you might be wondering if this actually exists or if we’re just making nonsense up for content now. Well, it does, and we would never just write nonsense for content. We care about you and keeping you informed. That’s why we’ll be breaking down the entire concept of toxic positivity. Let’s have at it, shall we?

What is Toxic Positivity?

To put it into the simplest terms possible, we’d say that toxic positivity involves forcing yourself to be happy. But, that’s a bit of an oversimplification. So, allow us to reinforce that definition just a little bit.Toxic positivity is a term used to refer to a situation where a person stifles every other emotion from sadness to anger and frustration. They do this in a bid to remain in a state of euphoria and to eliminate negativity from their lives. Toxic positivity often promotes quotes like, “no matter what you’re going through, always smile.” Needless to say, this mindset isn’t healthy.

Signs of Toxic Positivity

How do you know that you’re positive in a toxic way? What are the telltale signs?

ALSO READ Persistence: How to Attain it and Reap its Rewards

1. You’re always masking or hiding your true feelings

When you feel sad, angry, or frustrated about a major situation, you’re not meant to hide it. Of course, you should control it so that your emotions don’t get the better of you. But hiding it is out of the question. If you constantly do that, you have toxic positivity.

2. You keep trying to move on without tackling the problem

Imagine that a guy catches his partner cheating. This is obviously a deeply painful emotional experience that he has to deal with. However, if he merely tries to move on from it and sweep it under the carpet, that’s a major sign of toxic positivity.

3. You make people feel guilty for expressing their sadness

It doesn’t affect you alone. Sometimes, it spreads to the people around you. If you feel like people should hide their emotions and that showing them is unnecessarily negative, then you might have toxic positivity issues.

Takeaway

There are other signs that point towards it. However, they all relate to the fact that you’re not willing to deal with your emotions. If you behave this way, take steps towards change today. Don’t know how? We’ll show you soon enough. Until then, stay with us.