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

With an affirmation- do you just repeat it to yourself? Is there more to it?
I really like some of the ones suggested here and I'm going to write it down. I especially like the one about having a choice, I just need to believe it though because in that moment when I'm panicking, I believe that I don't have one. For example when I panicked at the airport, all I could think of is that I would lose my job eventually if I didn't board that plane.

Not, I've carried cards or a notebook with them in, have printed them out as wall posters, stuck them on the bathroom mirror and inside the kitchen cupboards!

It's not woo, you're creating new synapses :)

So could you think of an affirmation I could use specifically to the overbreathing? I'm doing it write now as we speak and it's horrible...causes me to chase great big gulping breaths of air that never come and I'm sure people are noticing because it makes me be a 'loud' breather.

You've learnt how to do deep breathing, presumably?

I'd probably try a big friendly reminder to 'breathe' :)
Or breathe deeply, or breathe slowly.

What words do you use for yourself, when you focus on your out breath?
Would something like "It's all right to breathe out" help?

I'm another fan of Feel the Fear and do it Anyway. I suffered from panic attacks many years ago and that book really helped me, mostly because it said to just 'go ahead and have your panic attack.' It sounds laughably simple but often the fear of the panic attack is worse than the panic attack itself, especially if you are somewhere public. It's the old 'what you resist persists' thing. So when you just accept the panic attack it takes the fear cycle out of it and makes it manageable.

I really recommend the book - I may even dig my copy out and re-read it :)

Gralick- I don't actually use any words in myself when overbreathing - just focus on slowing down my breathing if I can (not always successfully) .
Pee- I saw the reviews for that book and figured it was about achieving goals etc, hadn't realised it featured a section on panic- thank you!

Hmmm, it helps to have words to use for your affirmations I do just tell myself to 'breathe' and also to loosen my shoulders - but I'm not sure if this is what I did from when I started having the attacks or if it's evolved. You could give it a try.

I'm totally with everybody else that the main thing is not to fight it off - it's a natural process and will not harm you - although it's a good idea to pull over if you happen to be driving at the time! Having a drink of water helps, too. Breathe out while you swallow (can also cure hiccups.)

Feel the fear and do it anyway- I love this concept but at the airport I tried to 'let the fear come' . I told myself it was nothing more than a physical reaction to a negative chain of thoughts. However...I could not make myself come out of the panic no matter how much I told it to 'come'. My legs almost gave way and I drank bottles and bottles of water to distract myself to but when I got to security I almost had a complete and utter public meltdown:/

nottonight I hear you, and I understand. I suffered generalised anxiety and recurring panic attacks over half my life.

I'm about to go to sleep but will write to you properly tomorrow and hopefully give you some encouraging, friendly words. I am much much better these days, so please know that the fear is not who you are.

Thanks busty

It can't do you any harm to calmly repeat practiced comforting words whilst in the middle of your symptoms.

Clearly it can do harm if there are peer-reviewed studies stating it can make you feel worse. Maybe the studies aren't overly reliable, who knows, but I wouldn't be so quick to assume it can't do harm if there are studies suggesting it can.

Yes they work to an extent

If hangovers are a trigger for your anxiety attacks then stop drinking.

Speaking from experience of the same thing

Oh dear

Unless the studies say that affirmations can make you DO things that are harmful to you that you wouldn't otherwise do if you never uttered one, it is much of a muchness.

What you feel isn't the most relevant outcome measurement, because feelings can and will be triggered by everything and anything, especially in the context of mental health difficulties. One person can look at a sunset and feel vitalised and grateful for all existence, another may feel neutral, a third may feel absolutely wretched and isolated. Is the sunset harmful? How many studies would need to indicate that watching the sunset could bring up painful feelings in some people to 'prove' that the sunset was harmful?

Thanks everyone. I lay awake for hours last night (anxiety badly affects my sleep, indeed bad sleep I've realised can trigger it as well) and so I spent the time researching some books and lectures on you tube. There's some interesting Buddhist lectures that I found quite helpful. I'm not spiritual but funnily enough didn't feel like I needed to be when listening to the advice. They explored simple concepts such as 'fearing fear' which is exactly my problem- I am afraid of being afraid and the consequences of it. One lecture talked about asking yourself when you are anxious to imagine the opposite outcome happening. So if you're afraid of panicking in an airport, imagine if you didn't panic at the airport. It's CBT basically- at least I think that's what it is?

Lots of posters have talked about this and the importance of not fighting against it. I am so interested in tackling this particular aspect of the problem and think I need CBT to help me achieve it. I found a book online last night called Mind over Mood and it looks amazing.

I've never really paid attention to my triggers but now I can see that there are several. Yes alcohol is one of them and while I wouldn't really want to give up completely - I know it might be the best idea. However on that note, I've realised that I've got other ones like motorways, lack of sleep, solitude, a quiet house, sole travel...and now airports....jeez, it's been a revelation really. My understanding is that it's important not to remove triggers from your life as the anxiety will find another outlet (and that would certainly be true if I applied this concept to myself, given that my trigger list seems to be increasing). However I accept that alcohol probably has different physiological affects on anxiety that are separate from the other triggers I have and as such should probably avoid it altogether?

There are two main differences between alcohol and the other triggers you're finding. One is that it's not really a necessary part of life: avoiding travel would seriously limit your life (and work!) whereas avoiding alcohol just means you drink something else. The other factor is the physiological effects of a hangover. Totally non-anxious people feel shaky and nervous with a hangover.

It's probably enough to make sure you don't get drunk enough for a hangover, and/or steer clear of booze the night before a challenging event. Most folks do the latter anyway :)

I found the same about drinking, always brings on a bout of anxiety or depression. I rarely bother now, it's just too much of a pain in the ass the next day/week.

I found that yoga style breathing (or yoga itself but not always practical) helps with the quickening breath.

It's horrid, makes me feel awful.

'Mind Over Mood' was recommended to me by a friend of mine who was a psychiatric nurse, as she had found it very helpful with her own issues. I didn't use it as I decided I would do better if I worked with a therapist, but I have since heard other good things about it.

OP, CBT is overused in the NHS (as it is more suitable for short/limited courses of treatment than most other talking therapies), but anxiety like yours is one of the conditions most suitable for treating with CBT. If you can get a referral, go for it.

Thanks so much. Yes I've definitely found that drinking enough to cause a hangover is what tips me over the edge, albeit it's not often. I am going to be much more aware of this from now on and might abstain altogether if I can. I've called the doctor for an appointment but it's constantly engaged. He offered me 'talking therapy' once before and I'm assuming this is CBT?

I went to hypnotherapy sessions as a last resort to helping my anxiety, it was pretty much deep relaxation as opposed to hypno and worked for me but only temporarily.

The therapist recommended a book - Mindfulness by Mark Williams and Danny Penman, it's an easy read and it comes with a meditation CD too!

It explains that anxiety and fear lie in the past and the future, in the present moment it doesn't exist. Learning to be in the 'now' is the key to keeping anxiety at bay (hence why yoga helps so much) and I've improved massively since learning about this.

I'm Christian and my affirmations are scripture-based but anything positive makes a difference!

Anxiety is a crippling thing but it can be beaten. Good luck

I've had chronic anxiety for years and have done the meditation/affirmation stuff quite a lot. It's worked up to a point - whilst having a reasonable number of good days, I've still been prone to being incapacitated by anxiety that seems to come from nowhere.

More recently, I've been alerted to the role of body chemistry. I was at the Drs and my BP was up to 200/120 level. Yikes. As I can't do anything more on the healthy lifestyle front and I don't want to be medicated, I did some extensive research online. I stumbled across something quite interesting - a naturopathic Dr in the US is making a link between chronic inflammation and high blood pressure, and chronic inflammation and anxiety. Chronic inflammation as being ever present and systemic. Then a further link is being made between low grade allergic response to everyday foodstuffs and chronic inflammation. Allergy tests are recommended to isolate the foodstuffs.

I thought that this was worth pursuing, but the only allergy test I could find was going to cost me over two hundred pounds, which was too much for something so experimental on my part. However, I have been taking digestive enzymes which should create a similar result - and so far the results are encouraging. I've spent years plugging myself into electronic meditations to calm myself down - at the moment, I don't feel the need. Which seems like a very good sign. Not sure if it's working on the blood pressure in the same way.

So, my jury is out on meditations and affirmations for chronic panic and anxiety - it seems possible that it isn't our head, but our body. A search on systemic enzyme therapy will give you more info.

Wow sounds fascinating - will look into that. My blood pressure is usually though, does that make a difference?

'Learning to be in the here and now'

This resonates with me so much. Like for example my fear about panicking in public places or while driving are connected to having once panicked there before (the past) and terrified it'll happen again (the future)

This makes so much sense to me, but how do I make myself be in the now? That's the hard part. I've just been and bought: Mindfulness- a practical guide to finding peace in a frantic world.

I also bought the one I referred to earlier 'Mind over Mood'

Fingers crossed for me. I'm trying not to be negative but when I'm feeling anxious I have a terrible concentration span and wonder how I'll get through a book about mindfulness!

Bold - just realised I've just bought the very book you recommended! Fingers crossed it works x