Free Republic

Whether you’re in a yoga studio or the doctor’s office waiting room or scrolling through social media posts, positive affirmations encouraging you to live your best life can be found almost everywhere. But what if you don’t feel like it? For mental health advocate and author Dave Tarnowski, society’s penchant to push what he calls “toxic positivity” felt like brainwashing. Tarnowski turned that positivity on its head when he launched his Disappointing Affirmations Instagram account in July 2022. It went viral and now has more than 2 million followers. Tarnowski’s new book, “Disappointing Affirmations: Unfollow your dreams!” expands on his...

The Cure for Toxic Positivity hen my dad was diagnosed with colon cancer at age 52, I was flooded with emails, calls, and in-person pep talks from friends and acquaintances. Anyone who’d ever met me, it seemed, was eager to offer up a platitude. “Think positive,” they told me. “It will be okay. He’ll get through this.” But his cancer didn’t go away, and neither did the deluge of optimism that flowed over both of us — my dad, the patient, and me, his sole caregiver. It was wearing him down, and me along with him. During one visit, family...