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Demanding to create positive emotional states on demand is common misguided strategy that many fall into during recovery. While often we fear emotions because they turn into fear so quickly, we can also demand that we should be able to experience positive emotional states when we want to.  When we do this, we are generally trying to achieve a few basic goals:

• We are trying to escape the emotional state that we fear and hate by replacing it with a positive emotional state.
• We are attempting to eradicate negative states like sadness because we believe that we should always "choose happiness" or some such nonsense.
• We think that we are incapable of "handling" negative emotions or that they will automatically lead to some form of disaster or catastrophe.
• We are afraid that if we do not experience positive emotional states in given situations, that something is wrong with us.

Let’s talk about this today on episode 228 of The Anxious Truth!

For full show notes on this episode:

https://theanxioustruth.com/228

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Music Credit: AfterGlow by Ben Drake (with permission)

https://bendrakemusic.com

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Disclaimer: The Anxious Truth is not therapy or a replacement for therapy. Listening to The Anxious Truth does not create a therapeutic relationship between you and the host or guests of the podcast. Information here is provided for psychoeducational purposes. As always, when you have questions about your own well-being, please consult your mental health and/or medical care providers. If you are having a mental health crisis, always reach out immediately for in-person help.