Harmful Advice You Always See From ‘Positive’ Influencers

You shouldn’t believe everything you read on the internet. Some of the common pieces of advice you’re always reading on Instagram are dangerous. Here are a few examples:

“You have as many hours in the day as Beyoncé. Except that you don’t. Beyoncé has someone to cook, to clean, to organize her schedule, to watch her kids, etc. You have to do all that for yourself. Beyoncé also has enough sources of income that if she needed to take an extended vacation, she absolutely could. You probably can’t. This is supposed to be motivating thought, but it actually produces a lot of shame in people. ‘Why can’t I get everything done? I have as many hours in the day as Beyoncé!’ No, honey, you don’t.” — ekbrookhart

“Just keep going… Worst thing I ever did. Got me to burn out.” — TheRedditTeacher

“Everything happens for a reason, don’t let it get to you. Absolutely not the right advice to give someone and actually can make things a lot worse. I appreciate the sentiment, but it can come across as very hurtful and maybe even vindictive when said in certain scenarios.” — pocaberry

“Lately there’s been an increase in social media posts telling people that ‘self-care’ involves cancelling plans, eating junk food, not leaving the couch all day, and buying whatever you want. These are things that you shouldn’t feel guilty about doing IN MODERATION, but when done often can definitely worsen depression and anxiety. Self-care is all about finding a balance between loving yourself and treating yourself well and pushing yourself to be your best. That means things like eating healthy, exercising regularly, socializing with loved ones, and generally pushing yourself out of your comfort zone often are just as important as treating yourself and having quiet restful days.” — duracraft_fan

“People telling others you can just choose to not be depressed, or that you need to ‘self care’ yourself back to a normal psychological state. Yes, healthy food, exercise, and enough sleep is definitely important! But too many people discredit the disease-status of depression and claim it’s ‘just a feeling.’ No, sadness is a feeling. True depression needs therapy and possibly medication.” — TheSmilingDoc

“Typically they show pictures of sun breaking through trees and saying you don’t need meds or nature is medicine or this is a real antidepressant, etc. Except some people do. Maybe they need both. Some people can find healing without medications, some cannot, and that’s okay.” — lovelywavies

“Almost anything to do with essential oils. Some essential oils in small amounts can be useful for mild aromatherapy in some conditions (can help with seasonal affective disorder), or as additives in medicinal mixes, but otherwise there’s basically no evidence that essential oils do anything other than cost a lot of money and destroy the environment. Some can be legit dangerous to your health.” — I_am_the_night

“People who claim there is any kind of trick that will snap you out of depression or addiction, or motivational speakers who claim that you just need to think positive. If some people find that helpful, that’s great, but there is basically no evidence that self help stuff is better than placebo when it comes to depression or other conditions.” — I_am_the_night

“Worst I’ve seen isn’t the message it’s the context. Instagram models with their extravagant lifestyles quoting ‘love yourself,’ maybe not understanding that a lot of the time they set the unrealistic bar that people attempt to reach in their real lives. Don’t just shout buzzwords, ground yourselves. Open up about your stories and how you overcame them with sincerity, even if it’s at a detriment to your clout. Let people see through the Looking Glass, just for a second” — [deleted]