Toxic Positivity: Lets stop the spread

Social media is a great place to get inspired, connect with others and for many people, it’s their safe space… but for many others, it can be a hellish environment.

As someone who works with clients struggling with their relationship with social media and in addition to that has worked on social media / digital marketing roles for almost 10 years I can tell you one of the reasons is: toxic positivity. And boy oh boy we don’t talk enough about this. I am by no means saying something new, many researchers and mental health professionals have spoken for the past decade about toxic positivity. Here is my brief take on it. Toxic positivity is the necessity of an individual to be 100% positive and extending this desire to the people around them too. This is a self-centered practice, artificial, rigid, creepy, driving relationships away, hurting people in vulnerable positions, and it can lead to serious emotional and physical consequences. Dr. Jaime Zuckerman, a clinical psychologist in Pennsylvania who specializes in, among other things, anxiety disorders and self-esteem, explains that the “Failure to effectively process emotions in a timely manner can lead to a myriad of psychological difficulties, including disrupted sleep, increased substance abuse, risk of an acute stress response, prolonged grief, or even PTSD,”

Being positive is not inherently bad. Healthy positivity can be transformative. But it is not 100% positive. Healthy positivity is more like 75-90% positive, over time. This sense of authentic optimism can be a positive experience, filled with many positive emotions and thoughts while we still have some difficult moments and bad days.

Because the human experience is not reduced to wearing our happy faces all day every day it is much more complex than that. Much richer than that. Life is like a good cup of ceremonial cacao. Deep bitter notes, floral notes, a surprise kick in the back, maybe a small hint of sweetness (depending on how you like it), and all framed by a warm sensation in the heart and hands as we take a sip.

Learn more about how toxic positivity is spreading and the biggest antidote to it on Module 4 of A Journey Back Home, an online experienced designed to help you start healing the relationship with yourself. As always, thank you for reading, if you have any questions feel free to get in touch. Un abrazo grande!

-Carla