Toxic positivity suppresses emotions.

True wellness requires acceptance, honesty, and empathy.

Remember that emotions are impermanent.

When someone tells you they’re sad, how do you respond? Do you tell them to look on the bright side? That things will get better? That it’s not that bad?

You may have fallen victim to the 21st-century blight of toxic positivity, the idea that “good vibes” cure all.

Scan any bookstore shelf, and you’ll see the evidence of toxic positivity and how far it’s invaded our lives. If fulfillment and contentment were as easy as making our bed or washing our face, we wouldn’t still be in our current mental health crisis.

Toxic positivity is the idea that positivity begets positivity, that by acting happy, we somehow become happier. It’s the false assumption that we can reverse-engineer our own life satisfaction from the outside in.

Problem With Toxic Positivity

The problem with toxic positivity is that it leads to emotional suppression. It’s the modern-day version of walking it off, instead of feeling our........

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