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The Toxicity of Self-Care — Part II
When self-care becomes self-sabotage…
Because not all of self-care is actually ‘caring’, what is being sold to us these days as wellness ends up doing more harm than good.
Toxic Positivity is the belief that people should always maintain a positive mindset no matter how difficult the situation is. It rejects all difficult emotions in favor of the more cheerful and positive ones. According to some psychologists, it can do more harm than good.
I used to have limiting beliefs about what I would be able to do. I tried to expect the worst so that I wouldn’t be disappointed. Through the years, I have learned to be more of an optimist, glass-half-full type of person. I find it very helpful to look on the bright side of life and expect good things to happen. I would say it has made me happier person overall.
Toxic positivity can be harmful when we try to hide our negative emotions or feel guilty for being sad or angry or try to ignore our problems or difficult feelings.
For example, you could be brushing off our problems instead of facing them o hiding our painful emotions behind a mask of socially acceptable ‘feel-good’ answers. O we could minimize other people’s emotions by telling them to look on the bright side.
