Affirmations for anxiety that don't lie to you — 14 conditional ones, and why 'I am calm' backfires
Telling an anxious brain 'I am calm' usually makes it more anxious — it scans for the evidence that you're not. Here are 14 conditional, second-person affirmations grounded in Wood's dissonance research and Kross's self-distancing work, plus the moment anxiety stops being an affirmation problem and starts being a care one.
