Happiness for People Who Can’t Stand Positive Thinking. Oliver Burkeman shows readers it’s OK to start rethinking what our attitudes are towards death, the unknown, and failure. This unconventional self-help book shines a light on people who actively face the “negative” things in life to find a unique path to happiness and success. The Antidote proposes that what makes us feel insecure, anxious, and unhappy is avoiding or eliminating things we think will make us feel that way. As it turns out, this philosophy can be linked to the ancient Roman Stoics and even Buddhists. In The Antidote, Burkeman introduces us to people doing things a different way.