In the last two years, online searches for ‘toxic positivity’ have spiked. In this discussion from the Cheltenham Science Festival, we find out what toxic positivity is, and how it can hurt you and people around you. In front of a live audience, Claudia Hammond is joined by psychologist Dr Linda Blair, GP and educator Dr Anisha Patel, and wellbeing consultant and content creator Benjy Kusi. Linda has been interested in the rise in the use of the term ‘toxic positivity’ and has noticed how it’s having an impact on our wellbeing. She reveals why it is important for us not to suppress ‘negative’ feelings and emotions. Anisha was diagnosed with bowel cancer when she was 39. She authored the book Everything You Hoped You’d Never Need To Know About Bowel Cancer, where she speaks about her diagnosis and treatment journey. She experienced first-hand the harm that toxic positivity can do. Benjy works with many different companies to help improve their inclusion and wellbeing practices. He’s the author of the book Hope This Helps and posts frequent videos about lots of tricky issues on TikTok and Instagram. Presenter: Claudia Hammond Producer: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell Production co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth Editor: Holly Squire
This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the uk.
What are the most memorable travel adventures?
Those where we open our eyes and our minds to new experiences.
It's all to see here in Azerbaijan.
New flavors, a new appreciation of ancient history, of natural beauty and of rich contrasts.
This is a world of culture, cuisine, wellness and adventure.
All yours for the taking.
Thought you knew Azerbaijan?
Take another look.
To plan your Azerbaijan adventure, visit Azerbaijan Travel.
Hello, I'm Claudia Hammond.
Welcome to Health Check from the BBC World Service.
This week, we're going a bit psychological.
For this episode, I've come to the Cheltenham Science Festival, which takes place every year in the uk.
There are lots of tents here with all sorts of discussions about science going on.
And I'm here in a theatre with an audience ready to discuss something called toxic positivity.
Now, you may have come across the phrase on social media.
There's been a spike in online searches for it in the past two years, or if you haven't heard of it, when I tell you that it's that pressure from other people to be constantly positive, to thank your lucky stars all the time and to suppress any negative feelings, no moaning allowed, then you may well have experienced it.
So before I delve into the psychology of toxic positivity with my panel, I have a question for our audience here.
Have you ever had anything, I don't know, really sort of rubbish happen in your life?