Research indicates that self-affirmations may help to reduce your sensitivity to threat—which often forms the basis of social anxiety. In addition, higher self-esteem has been shown to predict less anxious responses. In this way, using positive affirmations may both boost your self-esteem (and as a result reduce anxiety) as well as make situations seem less threatening.
Breaking Away From Negative Thoughts
Below is a list of negative statements that you may think about yourself if you live with social anxiety. First, find the negative thoughts that you typically have from the list below. See how this list isn’t helping you at all? You wouldn’t feel too good if someone else was telling you that you were all these things—so why would you tell them to yourself? Realize that your thoughts are just thoughts, not necessarily true or accurate. If at first it feels like too much of a stretch to say good things about yourself, choose affirmations that are neutral, or add a qualifier such as “I’m getting better at X.” Over time, you will eventually start to feel like the affirmations are not so much of a stretch.
Using Positive Affirmations
Below is a list of positive affirmations to counter the list of 44 negative affirmations above.
A Word From Verywell
Positive affirmations are just one method of reducing negative thoughts that can perpetuate social anxiety. If you find that using positive affirmations is not helping, and you are living with significant daily anxiety, it is important that you contact your doctor for a referral to a mental health professional who can assess your situation and the best course of treatment.
