When we feel depressed, anxious, angry, or sad, a common coping mechanism is to bury those feelings and emotions and try to move on. It’s also common to hear that it isn't constructive to ruminate on the things that keep us down, and that a shift in mindset or perspective can lift us out of our fatalistic slumber.
The often-uttered slogans, 'happiness is a mindset,’ or 'good vibes only,’ can sometimes hide the darker aspects of the human experience and is often referred to as toxic positivity.
"Generally denying or suppressing emotion is understood to be a poor emotional regulation strategy. It can work in some instances, but over the long term, people may not confront or understand how they are feeling,” says Brock Bastian, a psychologist from the University of Melbourne, who has studied how societal pressure to be happy leads to poor wellbeing. “This leaves those responses unaddressed or unprocessed and this continues to impact on their wellbeing."
