I'm very, very happy for all the people for whom positive psychology and affirmations have proven helpful. I really am. However, that stuff doesn't work well for everyone and I have definitely found that I actually feel worse when I utilize positive thinking techniques.
I was listening to this radio show: http://www.wpr.org/cardin/index.cfm?...%3A00%3A00%2E0
on which this guy was talking about alternatives to the positive thinking approach. Basically, his theory is that, for many people, our constant striving for happiness and our attempts to eliminate all negativity can have the opposite effect.
I think I'm going to read his book one of these days. It's The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can't Stand Positive Thinking for those of you who are interested. I'm guessing that some of it echoes what Barbara Ehrenreich talked about in her book Brightsided (I definitely recommend that book) but a little less of a critique on the positive psychology industry and a little more of advice for what us positive-averse people can do to improve our lives.
Am I alone in this or has anyone else found themselves feeling worse after trying the positive affirmations and all that?