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What Are Anxiety Affirmations?

Jennifer Long
Jennifer Long

Anxiety affirmations are types of affirmations used to help people deal with anxiety. Affirmations are positive sayings, or chants, that are repeated continuously. They are essentially truths stated to induce positive thinking and relaxation. Daily affirmations can help with treating anxiety, whether it is to maintain low anxiousness or combat an anxiety attack.

Behavioral therapists, counselors, and other self-help experts theorize that a person’s state of mind plays an enormous role in self-esteem and self-confidence. By making positive statements, a person gains the ability to overcome any negative emotions, fears, or behaviors. Positive self-talk, another term for affirmations, helps a person influence both conscious and subconscious thoughts. Anxiety affirmations can help people change the thoughts that lead to excessive anxiety.

Anxiety affirmations can be used to induce positive thinking and relaxation.
Anxiety affirmations can be used to induce positive thinking and relaxation.

Creating effective anxiety affirmations takes practice. Starting with one or two affirmations provides the ability to gauge effects and make changes as needed. The first general rule is to use present tense statements so the mind believes this statement is currently taking place.

Anxiety affirmations should be statements about something positive that has already been done. Examples include overcoming one particular fear or one obstacle. If it is something that provides a sense of accomplishment or self-worth, it can be easily converted into an affirmation.

Positive results from the use of anxiety affirmations will not occur immediately.
Positive results from the use of anxiety affirmations will not occur immediately.

It is often best to space out anxiety affirmations in the beginning. Chosen affirmations should start out being spoken an average of five or six times, but only two or three times a day. When the affirmations are repeated too frequently, the brain becomes immune. Once anxiety attacks start to diminish, affirmations can be used as needed to boost confidence.

Anxiety affirmations should be spoken with feeling and enthusiasm. Each one should be truly meant as a positive statement. Many people who use affirmations also use visualization as an aid. Visualization with affirmations can be difficult to master initially. A person sees themselves performing the statement as they are repeating it.

The anxiety affirmations that are chosen should be relevant to the individual person and to the experiences causing anxiety. For example, if anxiety is caused by a work environment, the affirmations should be relative to the issues at work. Some people use one general affirmation about health or happiness in a daily affirmation routine, but any others should stay relevant to helping develop positive thinking about the upcoming tasks or activities.

Mastering the use of anxiety affirmations will take a bit of time and patience. Full results will not occur immediately. The process involves gradually retraining the brain and replacing consistent negativity with positivity. It may take a few weeks or even a month or two before an anxiety sufferer can begin to feel better.

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    • Anxiety affirmations can be used to induce positive thinking and relaxation.
      By: Antonioguillem
      Anxiety affirmations can be used to induce positive thinking and relaxation.
    • Positive results from the use of anxiety affirmations will not occur immediately.
      By: David Stuart
      Positive results from the use of anxiety affirmations will not occur immediately.