Negative People Don’t Want Solutions

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“Negative people don’t want solutions. Solutions mean they have to work to find something else to be negative about.” – Tom Ziglar

It’s a wonder why negative people report to being unhappy, yet they seem to habitually and automatically presume the negative. They have an unending list of something to be negative about that it’s almost like an addiction. Can we get addicted to negativity? The answer is a profound YES.

According to a psychoanalytic review titled “The Addiction to Negativity,” people exposed to intense negativity during early life may develop an addiction to negative experience as adolescents and adults. When a person continuously experiences a negative feeling, the body creates a dependency on stress-related chemistry! These sneaky negative emotions resulting in emotional stress activate the same pathways in our brain that process pain, releasing free-flowing endorphins that has a similar effect to heroin and morphine.

There are other possible explanations for this addiction to negativity; it may stem from deep-rooted insecurity or lack of self-esteem that causes some people to feel undeserving of happiness. When life becomes “too good”, they fear that it might be a setup for disappointment. Others can’t get over their past mistakes that they would rather punish themselves than be happy. And more commonly, some people think that optimism is only for the disillusioned majority, that being practical or realistic means focusing on the negative.

Unfortunately, like other forms of addiction, negativity presents obstacles instead of opportunities. It blocks the necessary tools, like creativity and perseverance, for solving complex problems. But it’s never too late to switch your mindset, and it’s never a waste to do so.