The Negative Side of having a Positive Attitude:
Having a positive attitude is one of the best ways to handle tough situations and whatever obstacles you face in your life. However, being positive all the time can get quite exhausting, both mentally and emotionally.
Read 7 Tips To Train Your Brain To Stay Positive
Life is not always easy, and at times you might feel angry, jealous, sad, depressed or just dissatisfied, and that is perfectly okay.
Putting excessive pressure on yourself to be happy and have a positive attitude, no matter what you go through is wrong on every level.
The Tyranny of the Positive Attitude
It’s hard to scroll through your social media feeds without being bombarded with motivational quotes. Bonus points if they are spelled out on a letter board.
Good vibes only. Choose happiness. Find the rainbow in the rain.
As a psychologist (and as a human), these quotes kind of irk me. They make us think that life should be all roses and rainbows; we just need to choose the right state of mind. And, by extension, if you are struggling, you aren’t trying hard enough. You just need to change your mindset.
The problem is, life isn’t all roses and rainbows. We don’t get to experience the good without the bad. As mindfulness instructor Jon Kabat Zinn says, life is about “full catastrophe living.” We must embrace what life brings us and learn how to experience the full range of human emotions, even when it’s not so pretty.
A 2016 study found that expressing negative emotions is adaptive and is associated with improved psychological health and adjustment. Conversely, avoiding negative feelings can make you feel even worse. Barbara Held, a psychology professor at Bowdoin College, calls this “the tyranny of the positive attitude.” In a 2016 Newsweek article, she explains that our culture has little tolerance for those who aren’t all smiles and sunshine all the time.
There is an expectation that people should always look on the bright side of adversity and be grateful for the positives in a difficult situation. This attitude is a double hitter for people going through a difficulty; first, you feel bad about whatever the thing is that is making you feel bad, and then you feel guilty or defective for not focusing on the positives and keeping an upbeat attitude. In other words, we feel bad for feeling bad.
Read 6 Positive Psychology Practices To Boost Happiness and Improve Your Life
“Everyone faces defeat. It may be a stepping-stone or a stumbling block, depending on the mental attitude with which it is faced.” – Napoleon Hill
As a therapist and an eating disorder specialist, I spend a lot of time helping clients identify and welcome in the full range of emotional experiences. In this “good vibes only” culture, so many of us have become disconnected from our emotions. We try to keep away feelings of anger, sadness, fear, jealousy, and disappointment. Rather than feeling happy all the time, this leaves us feeling numb. We live our lives in fast-forward, keeping ourselves busy every waking moment, so we never have to actually be with our thoughts or feel our feelings.
What would it be like to feel your feelings? To be OK not being OK? To experience discomfort and trust that you have the resilience to withstand it and come through the other side. This way of approaching life may not have the same letterboard appeal as “good vibes only,” but I think there is real power to bringing authenticity into our heavily filtered lives.
Written by Alexis Conason Psy.D.
Originally appeared on Psychology Today
Life is not a bed of roses all the time, and some days are going to be worse than the other ones. Positivity and optimism are necessary traits for being a strong person, but so is facing your negative feelings and acknowledging them. You feel what you feel, and there is no point in trying to shove those feelings under the carpet, just because some people are convinced that you need to be happy all the time, no matter what.
Watch this informative video on the negative side of having a positive attitude and how it affects us in our daily lives
Leave a Reply