The soap opera has been in charge of dramatizing the reality of breast cancer patients, however, the excessive positivism of Gabriel (Simón Pesutic) has caught the attention of viewers. Mental health professionals explain how he can be counterproductive to the mental health of these patients.
the couple of Gabriel and Anita from the soap opera Balthazar’s Law The screen and social networks have been taken over for a few chapters since it was announced that the character of Fernanda Salazar has breast cancer.
The dramatization of this reality has generated a lot of support from the audience, however, one detail has attracted attention: the excessive positivism of Gabriel.
Her partner has remained at the foot of the canyon accompanying Anita throughout the process, but at the same time does not allow the character to feel bad. And although it is fiction, this situation can come to the reality of a cancer patient and not be so favorable.
What is toxic positivity?
According to psychologist at Los Carrera Clinic, Constanza Uribean excessively positive person “normalizes it as a valid truth and That’s the part where it starts to get dangerous, normalizing that the only healthy and permissible thing is positive feelings.“.
By contrast, “they begin to delegitimize other states or negative thoughts and other emotions that are super-valid”adds the professional.
The head of mental health at Clínica Dávila and psychiatrist Dávila Vespucio, Eugenia Escorzaclaims that this behavior can in fact be counterproductive for the patient, then will negatively affect your mental health.
According to Escorza, it can make people feel “guilt and shame of expressing what is not pleasant”And denying negative emotions won’t make them go away, he says.
Although positivity is not bad, it is not good to nullify negative emotions. “If I feel bad, it is necessary to feel sad at some point. What is desirable is that it allows me to be sad without this having an impact on the image I have of myself.says Uribe.
This, because according to the professionals, cancer patients like the character of Balthazar’s Law they can develop other psychosomatic pathologies.
One way to distinguish that positivity is toxic is when the sick person feels like “actors” who hide their emotionswhich can be accompanied by a feeling of guilt, says Escorza.
If you are facing one of these situations, the ideal is face the negativeexplain the professionals.
To which Uribe adds: “They will need to be accompanied by other people in their pain or suffering and emotions, so when there is excessive positivity it forces patients to feel uncomfortable, frustrated and isolated”.
“There are things that we are going to have to face and the best thing is to do it by developing that response”recommends the psychiatrist from Dávila Vespucio.
