In a society where we are expected, from an early age, to achieve success, earn excessive money, have the right car, breed the perfect family and look ageless and fit, it is clear that we learn to have high expectations for ourselves and those we love. Thus, we put a lot of pressure on ourselves to “be the best”.

In turn, it is very easy to become highly agitated when things don’t go exactly the way we want them to go in our lives. Enter negativity. Everyone has that person in his or her life known as “Debby Downer”: the person who constantly dwells on everything that is wrong in the world and makes it known to everyone around her. Each of us experiences a Debby Downer kind of day in which our mind gets completely occupied with anxieties, fears, complaints, doubts, and insecurities.

Why is this important? More recently researchers have been focusing on the impact that our negativity can have on our health outcomes including disease risk, obesity, and immune functioning. The following articles will go over these connections between emotions and physical health. In addition, you can read about some of the negative patterns we allow ourselves to fall into, and how to overcome and get past negativity to move to healthier overall functioning.