Surprisingly, this does shift your perspectiveyoure now feeling more frustrated than before.
What about these seemingly innocuous and well-intentioned phrases are so grating?
Are you being needlessly negative, stubborn, or no fun?
Stocksy
Nope, youre probably just responding to toxic positivity culture.
What Is Toxic Positivity?
Positivity in itself is a good thingthats, uh, its literal definition.
In short, toxic positivity is regular positivitys overbearing (and, frankly, more annoying) cousin.
On some level, this makes sense; who, exactly, is advocating for more negativity?
Turning positivity into a lifestyle denies and minimizes a whole spectrum of human experience.
Furthermore, stigmatizing normal human emotions like sadness, anger, and fear does little to actually fix them.
Turning positivity into a lifestyle denies and minimizes a whole spectrum of human experience.
How to Avoid and Identify Toxic Positivity
So, how do you identify and avoid toxic positivity?
The first step is recognizing what it isnt.
When people grasp at toxic positivity, theyre most likely striving for optimism or resilience.
The best way to steer clear of toxic positivity, then, is to cultivate and strengthen your resilience.
Once again, Filidor recommends working on coping with, rather than avoiding or invalidating, stressful situations.
Build a support system, she says and make space for self-reflection and self-care.
Filidor also recommends reframing difficult situations.
Staying mindful of your social media consumption.
Filidor explains, Social media platforms like Instagram can be filled with lots of toxic positivity.
Learn that it is okay to make mistakes."
2012;12(1):69-80. doi:10.1037/a0024755
