Do affirmations work?

[nottonightjoesphine]

Not an AIBU but posting for traffic. I hope that's ok.

I have anxiety on and off (mostly off, thankfully) but developed a bout of it yesterday. I've realised recently that it usually happens when I have a hangover and I unfortunately over indulged in some bank holiday celebrations at the weekend. I don't drink often but it will almost always bring one about. There are other triggers as well- travelling long distances and driving make me anxious as well.

I don't take regular meds although my doctor gave me beta blockers a long time ago and I'll take one now and again. They don't really do anything I don't think? I was also given one prescription of Valium around the same time and while I used them and thought they were great, I prefer not to go done the medication route. The main way that anxiety affects me is that I 'over breathe' (basically hyperventilation) and never feel like I can get a deep and satisfying breath. I end up 'chasing' a deep breath and bring on chest pain and panic. I also wake up gasping for air. I've spent a long time today researching how I can overcome this through breathing techniques. I have a fairly good grasp of what anxiety and panic is, as understanding the science of it helps me to deal with an attack (in the sense that I know it won't kill me!) Today I am feeling particularly bad and thinking how to get a handle on it all longer term. I am thinking of lots of different ways and wondered about the benefits of positive affirmations. I'm not particularly spiritual and although I've downloaded relaxation apps- they don't seem to help me as I can't switch off. I guess my thinking about affirmations is that it could be a form of brain trajning- which I think might be helpful?

Does anyone here have experience of using them to bring about a positive change? Can you suggest anything else that would help with panic and anxiety - so especially the overbreathing which is the most debilitating aspect of it.

Thanks everyone

I use meditainment.com and have bought their CDs. They are twenty minute long guided meditations which I find fab for calming me down. Also, breathing in and out of your cupped hands or a paper bag-hyperventilation causes low carbon dioxide levels and this rectifies it. Finally I find getting outside helps me most. Hope you feel better soon.

I have never found affirmations helpful -and I have tried them a lot. Recent research agrees & says a form of thinking which I would call "realistic" or problem recognising is more effective.
Frankly, for what you have you might wish to consider CBT. If you cannot afford therapy then read books on it. A good one is "Feel the Fear but do it Anyway" not strictly CBT, but well -regarded.

Thanks haggis, I'll check out that website. My doctor offered me talking therapy about a year ago - but I'll admit to not really understanding what they could do for me. I literally don't have a clue where all this comes from. I don't have any major problems (thank god), a good job and partner etc. I feel like talking therapy won't give me actual practical solutions for getting rid of the panic? I accept though that I'm speaking from ignorance on that one so perhaps k need to go back to the doctor. I don't even know if I have a diagnosis of anxiety as I've only approached my doctor once about it and that's when he gave me the one off prescription (most of which I still have - so you can see I am reluctant to choose that route). On every other occasion I deal with it myself but think I definitely have to go back to him. I have started having racing thoughts when I'm panicking and they are intrusive and frightening- like I'm losing my mind:/

I experience the same thing, a good tip that I find helps is to think the word 'calm' as I breathe in and out, it slows my breathing down and stops me focusing on the panic feelings. The breathing into a paper bag is good too, also I slowly sip cold water.

I have used affirmations in the past when I worked with someone quite bullying, they definitely helped me.

Thanks for all your ideas so far. It really helps. I do drink water when panicking as I get such a dry mouth and dizziness that its really needed.

To start with, CBT really helped me gain control of my anxiety but the thing that's made the biggest difference is yoga. When I first started I as very anxious (both in every day situations and during the classes) but over time there has been a huge change - no anxiety in class and almost none outside. Breathing exercises really help and generally feel more relaxed.

My anxiety still returns with a vengeance after drinking though. Only thing I've found it help this aspect is drinking less / none at all

I'm not sure about positive affirmations working but I think it's worth reading different books on overcoming anxiety to see if you can find out what works for you. But I think stopping the negative voice inside by saying something positive can help.

There was some research recently-ish which found they didn't, and in fact made people's mood worse, but I am not sure what study size etc- maybe search pubmed? E.g.
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Positive+Self-Statements%3A+Power+for+Some%2C+Peril+for+Others

I love a good affirmation. They're not woo, it's more like speaking directly to the machine which is your brain imo.

I make my own up, but it's really crucial to have them worded right. I'm happy to check any that you come up with.

My personal favourite is one I made up for moving forwards mentally and physically after a difficult personal time and post surgical

I say it over and over whilst walking

'My strong legs carry me far'

For a breathing and anxiety one, perhaps you could read Louise Hay's little book. I can't remember the name of it, but it has symptoms and the affirmation that 'cures' it.

I think they certainly help me, and for what you want, they sound ideal.

I have suffered with anxiety too. I have one go-to affirmation, and I repeat it to myself when I feel "the burn"(my attacks feel like my insides are acid) I ask myself
"here and now, what is happeneing? here and now, what can I do?" if it is really bad I just repeat "here and bow" as long as I need to to get my self focused.
I have a hard time being present, I worry about things, and before the ideas can even form into coherent thought, I am feeling sick. It is hard in that moment to pull yourself together, but the mantras and affirmations can train and condition your bodies response.
Basically you Pavlov yourself, so that when you picture a certain colour or repeat a phrase, you slow and deepen your breathing, you visualize your happy place or what ever you need to do to get through it.

Hi

I would go back to your GP... Ask for referral.

All tje evidence says CBT is helpful rather than positive affirmations... They may help, but only if you truly believe them...

Good talking therapy - esp cognitive behaviour therapy based sessions WILL give you strategies!

In the meantime there are some really good self- help books such as overcoming panic and overcoming anxiety...

Good luck!

That Louise Hay book is called You can Heal Your Life.

Google her website. There's plenty on there to get started on.

Good luck OP.

Wow thanks everyone! I've downloaded that app on meditation and really going to try to relax enough to listen to it. I love a good self help book and am considering buying a book on Buteyko which is basically about learning to breathe less- has anyone heard of this? I also see Paul McKenna has excellent reviews for his hypnosis about anxiety. Will look up that Louise Hayes book now too. I guess part of me not wanting to go back to the GP was as much about not wanting to accept that I have anxiety as it is about not wanting to be offered tablets. My partner is lovely baht doesn't really understand so I think I definitely need more professional help. It's funny about the drinking alcohol...it never used to bother me, but now- well it's horrible!

Ok just had a look at the reviews for the Louise Hay book about changing your life. The reviews are fantastic but it looks like the book might be about overcoming personal difficulties rather than specifically about anxiety? Is there a section on panic or anything?

I think affirmations can help, but only as part of what you can do, they won't do anything significant on their own.

Have you looked into mindfulness? I have a book on it that I'm trying to read, and some of it is helpful, but some of it just seems like too much effort! But it has taught me to 'live in the moment' rather than focus too much energy on worrying about what might happen, or what has already happened that I can't change.

Breathing techniques can be really good, and I've used some deep breathing and visualisation before doing things that made me nervous or that I knew were going to be emotionally draining, and that along with relevant affirmations has helped. I haven't hyperventilated for a while now, but when I used to I could only calm it down by trying to hold my breath to try and get rid of some of the excess oxygen and then breathing into a pillow.

Meditation is great, but it's really difficult! I sometimes do guided ones from apps or the Internet, but if think it's important not to try and force it if your brain just isn't in the right place for it. I sometimes find that writing in a diary before trying to meditate helps clear my head of some of the thoughts that come to mind and get in the way.

Yes, they do work. So does mindfulness/meditation.

The trick with both tools is not to go overboard.

If your affirmations are of the "I am amazing" variety, when deep down you don't believe you are, you just end up laughing at yourself or putting yourself down. Mine are more like "It's okay to feel anxious" and "I don't need to be stunning, just presentable - I'm presentable."

Meditation doesn't need to be spiritually transcendental, either. It works really well if you just absorb yourself in something nice for a few minutes - watching a river works for me and, at this time of year, looking at buds and how the flowers are coming out. Little and often :)

I think they do to an extent. Like you, I tend to hyperventilate with panic attacks (had been doing very well and not had any for years, but floored by a massive one about 10 days ago which I am still recovering from). When in the grips of that latest attack, and needing to drive somewhere, I found myself muttering "it's going to be okay" over and over again under my breath, which did sort of seem to help, not least in that it got me breathing out!

Positive affirmations DO work but are not a quick fix.
It takes a long long time and is a gradual process. Just do some every day whether you feel like it or not - it doesn't matter whether you believe they work or not and there is nothing to lose so just do it.
I used to repeat them in my head when I was walking or just resting. Your brain does take notice of them in the same way all the negative things you have told yourself has affected you!

I think there may be some benefit but do you know the best thing ever for anxiety? Accepting it. That doesn't mean liking it, it just means noticing it and naming it and letting it be. So you get a hangover, and you feel anxious, and you just think, oh look, I'm hungover and anxious and go on about your daily life.

This is not easy, by the way. I had a very serious presentation of an anxiety disorder and it took me a Long Long Time to get this.. But I do, now, and anxiety is there but it doesn't push me around. It's normal to feel anxious, it's only disordered when it interferes with you being open, present and doing the things that matter in your life.

My affirmation is 'it's okay not to like this' or 'I can function with fear'

Feeling quite emotional reading these responses, thanks so much to you all - it is so so helpful to me.
So much of what you're saying resonates with me. Part of dealing with this has been to learn the physiology behind a panic attack rather than mask it with medication. However I took a huge panic attack at an airport recently and I'd have given anything for a diazepam even through I do not take them regularly. I felt so out of control and desparate to get out of the airport that I almost didn't get on the flight. My partner was speechless that I contemplated not taking the flight and it kind of made me worse because all I could think of at that moment was that the anxiety had trancended to a whole new level and now 'owned me'. My thoughts ran wild with how it had really gotten hold of me and that kg would filter into every aspect of my life. I'll be honest and say jve not driven on a motorway for a very long time because of anxiety and my thoughts at the airport were that it had now creeped into air travel as well and of course....that had me thinking it would end up making me agoraphobic! Crazy stuff....and none sense because I got on that fight and I will continue to board planes (I travel for work). It drove home to me however that you should never stop doing the things that bring on anxiety because it doesn't actually have anything to do with the place or situation you're in and if you eliminate the triggers for these fears....the anxiety will only find another outlet (ie, me now developing a fear of airports) I am determined not to let that happen and need to find a way to get a handle on it before my next flight because I know that's how anxiety works, ie, that I'll now get worked up before my next flight because of the attack I had before. (It's a fear of having an attack at the airport rather than the flight itself)

Anyway I'm rambling but thanks so much to all of you. I tried mindfulness very loosely after an attack once but I think the key with it is to perhaps do it when I am calm and not in a state of flux. The reason I was interested in affirmations is down to what a helpful poster below said regarding it being the same as allowing the negative thoughts to build up in the first place.
and 'let it ride' so to speak.

'I can function with fear' . I love this.
It's a part of the acceptance issue that the poster below mentioned. When I'm having an attack or doing this chronic overbreathing that I do even when I'm feeling ok- my rational brain knows that it's anxiety/fight or flight and that I should just let it pass. I need to work so much harder on putting it into practice though.

I think what helps me is knowing that I have a choice in the situation. For example, I had an MRI recently and started to panic as I slid inside (because I opened my eyes) and I calmed down when I realised that I could stop the scan at any time just by pressing a button so staying in the situation was my choice.

In your airport scenario would it help to remind yourself that you do have a choice, you are not trapped and nobody can force you to do something you don't want. It doesn't stop the fear but it makes working through the fear something you choose to to do. You are in control of the situation and you do have a choice.

I also find music is a good distraction, especially if its reasonably cheerful or calming.

DH meditates, we both do affirmations, not all the time. IME they really work. Always. To the point where one of us knows when the other has been doing them. I'm the least woo and most cynical person you would come across, but I know that this works (for us anyway).