Title: Smile & The Beaming Sunflowers of Toxic Positivity Come To Dismiss Negativity Reality And Or Feelings That Make Others Uncomfy // Its All Sunshine Nothing But Sunshine
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The pressure to only display positive emotions through supression of negative emotions/ reactions/ experiences can lead to negative mental states and negative self-regard. It's worse expression is when the drive to remain positive makes an individual enforce it on others. Feeling ones authentic feelings is important to a healing process. And merely getting through he day. Rather than fester in an inauthentic headspace that can shame feel your feelings.
What toxic positivity can look like:
Feeling guilt or shame for feeling down because someone else has it worse
Only sharing the good moments on social media (Guilty)
Hiding how you really feel (from others, or from the person we lie to most often: ourselves)
Trying to focus on the positives and rejecting the negatives. Especially when doing so leads to negative outcomes in situations that are truly outside of your control.
Telling someone, "Just look on the bright side" or "God has a plan" especially when the bright side isn't the subject discussed at the moment, or a deity has neither control over nor nothing to do with the matter at hand.
What's an easy way to flip the script, so to speak, on toxic positivty? Try these alternatives the next time a friend, colleague, or comrade shares a negative happening with you:
Instead of saying "Just Stay Positive," try saying "That must be really hard." Validating what they're experiencing can make them feel heard. That helps when someone is in a hard space.
Instead of saying, "Everything happens for a reason" say, "I'm sorry to hear you're going through this." or more naturalistically, "That sucks you're going through this". Ideally you aren't the cause of their hardship lol.
Instead of "Things Will Work Out/ Look On The Bright Side" say, "Is there anything I can do to support you now or in the future?"
Now. Toxic Positivity shouldn't be mistaken for Gaslighting. Here's a handy dandy chart to differentiate the two:
I was a mental health professional in a frontline public health role for many years. I am no longer. I will never be again. Nonetheless mental health themes will play heavy in my personal expression. And I'll be thrilled to support people and organizations in the mental and public health field make their efforts look their very best!
Taking my previous experience as server provider and utilizer and applying to new horizons is what this whole blog is about. I know there's a sweetspot to occupy where graphic design, behavioral & clinical research, and mental health in the public health realm intersect. Now's my time to make it happen. Thanks for taking this journey with me towards where all roads meet.
Check out all my stock imagery available at Adobe here: https://stock.adobe.com/contributor/211811780/5ad-ink?load_type=author&prev_url=detail
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