Affirmations to tell yourself while going through a chronic disease.
Why they are so important and how to create your own.
Laura Herrera
Apr 29, 2021· 9 min read
Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash
When you are going through a chronic disease it can feel as if your world is constantly falling apart or having trouble just staying together. When you feel trapped inside your own body not knowing when it will attack again- you go from one moment to the next just trying to survive. You go from one moment to the next wanting and hoping that each of your good moments/days last and become forever. It can be tremendously overwhelming when you don’t know what to expect from your body. If you are going through this- you know just like me how it can take a toll on not only your body but your mind as well.
Battling myself through two chronic debilitating diseases (Endometriosis and Adenomyosis) for 11 years before I got real help from a specialist was completely overwhelming. I didn’t have a support group or even know what I was facing for 7 years before I was diagnosed. I felt alone the entire time. This was even after I was diagnosed because trying to explain what I was going through to people was a lot of times traumatic based on responses I received back. I felt alone to battle this mentally on my own. Thankfully at the end of the 11th year, I had the final surgery with a world-renown specialist that helped treat me successfully in rooting out the disease. Fast forward a few years later and recently for the last 6 months, I have been feeling as if I’m on the same path as before. This time with trying to find out what is causing a different chronic disease based on different symptoms. I have been from doctor to doctor, test to test, medicine to medicine- and again it has been overwhelming. I have been triggered on many occasions and I realized I have to affirm myself once again. With the prior chronic disease(s)- over time, I built an internal defense mechanism to help me. I had to because I felt so alone in what I was going through. I never wrote the affirmations down but at times I had the fortitude to press on because of things that I told myself. I wished I would have written them down- it would have really come in handy day in and day out all those years. I know now that they would have helped me tremendously. In today’s struggles, I found that thankfully I can pull from those stances to help in the current things I’ve been facing trying to get answers and help. Through the many recent tears, heartache, and triggers I am thankful some of the affirmations that I use to tell myself have already become my new foundation. Those that have been past affirmations have helped me tremendously. I never thought I’d be going through something similar as before. Different symptoms but same emotional struggles and the weight of it all. The same hurtful things said by people I love trying to help but not really helping because they do not understand what I am going through. Most of the time it has not been helpful but has made me want to clam up. I have felt as if my voice isn’t heard once again and I’ve had to encourage myself to keep going, keep pushing, keep talking when I feel led to, keep being strong for myself, keep from allowing hurt to penetrate my heart from those that I love and on and on.
I want to encourage you, friend-allow yourself to go through the emotions. The hurts, pains, the abandonment, frustration, etc.- they are all real. When we first prohibit ourselves to feel, we push those feelings down and then they control us by other emotions popping up. Those emotions can affect not only you but everyone around you as you act out without getting to the root of things. We were created as living, breathing, beautiful individuals. We have needs just like others around us who have needs. This is self-care. Affirmations are a way of caring for oneself- affirming yourself in every area you need it.
The power of affirmations:
You have the power to train your mind towards the direction of the affirmation whenever your mind wants to go negative or back to the former foundation you’ve laid down for self-talk in every area of your life. At some point, the affirmations take root and become your first point of reference in your mind when combating emotions and attacks.
This is why telling yourself affirmations will help combat those attacks mentally. Having a list of affirmations already on hand can help in times of struggle and also in times of peace.
Neuroscience has confirmed the power of affirmations. According to a study it was discovered that saying affirmations increased activity in the medial prefrontal cortex and posterior cingulate. These areas of the brain are connected to self-related processing. Science shows that increased self-related processing can act as a kind of emotional buffer to painful, negative, or threatening information. https://thebestbrainpossible.com/affirmations-brain-depression-anxiety/#:~:text=Affirmations%2C%20also%20called%20self%2Daffirmations,anxiety%2Dproducing%20thoughts%20and%20beliefs.
In addition to having some affirmations already at your disposal, you have the capability of creating your own based on your individual needs that are unique to you and your life.
First copy these below (all or those that pertain to you and your situation)- be it writing them down, copying and pasting them into your notes on your phone, etc. Now, take a deep breath and say them aloud. In the next step, I will show you how to create your own.
You and your story are unique. There is no one like you and there is no one going through the exact same things as you- that is why it is even more powerful to learn how to process what you are going through and use that to help meet your needs.
Here are a few affirmations to keep on hand and tell yourself daily and whenever you are triggered by emotions brought on by the disease:
I am not alone
It is not my fault
There are right doctors out there that can help my individual case
I deserve overall well being in my health, mind, spirit, and body
I love myself
I have purpose
I can touch lives
I can make a positive difference in this world in whatever I choose to do
There is only one me
I can get through this
If someone doesn’t want to listen to me, I can move on without hurt and abandonment
I can choose to see the beauty in the small things and big things around me
My life is not solely this disease
I am not this disease, I am a full person with the ability to love and be loved fully
I am capable of speaking up when I do not feel heard
I deserve to be treated with love, respect, honor, sympathy, and support when I share my issues or needs
Just because a doctor hasn’t found the reason to my case doesn’t mean I am a lost cause
The right people will be placed in my life that can help me
I will not be made to feel as if I am not using enough faith- I know what I am going through and I know how much faith and hope I have possessed and expressed
I am not a failure because I have so many medical bills and expenses
How to create your own affirmations.
Whenever you are going through a tough challenging issue with the disease or in life in general, allow yourself to feel, to release and to engage.
Engage is the last step.
Ask yourself: was I thinking negatively about this? If so, ask yourself what is the complete opposite of what I was just thinking that was overwhelming to me? Now write that down.
For example:
Maybe a person made you feel as if it was your fault you had a flare-up or that maybe you aren’t doing enough. You took this as an emotional jab and went as far as telling yourself, this is my fault. (I want to encourage you, friend- it is not your fault you are going through a chronic disease).
Now I want you to write down the opposite of that thought.
“It is not my fault”
Example two: I am never heard. No one wants to help or hear what I’m going through.
Now, what is the opposite of that thought?
“I deserve to be heard. I am not a burden.”
I first learned this process from my counselor a few years ago. She taught me how to retrain my brain in MANY areas of my life that were hindering my life and relationships around me. How we think affects everything from our home life to work life. It affects all personal relationships and work relationships. It affects our romantic relationships and community relationships. It affects how we see the world and how we engage in the world around us. We may not realize it but our foundation of thinking has been established over time from our youth. If we don’t self check our foundations as an adult in many areas we may never realize we have faulty belief systems and behaviors based on how we viewed the world as a child and how we internalized experiences as a child. We have the power as an adult to self-check, self- regulate and self-affirm. Processing the feelings when triggers happen can be overwhelming but it helps understand why the triggers in general trigger you. Once you ask yourself why it triggers you, then you are able to process the feelings and get to the root of what is causing the emotions and responses. It is at the point that you can ask yourself what do you need to change about your thinking so that when triggers happen they will no longer affect you the same way. Triggers will happen friend but that doesn’t mean you have to be bound to the same responses as before. Again as above- allow yourself to feel, to release and to engage. Release can be anything as in crying, going for a walk or run, going for a drive, talking with a friend, family member or counselor. The list is on and on. After releasing please don’t forget the last part- engaging. It is at this point that you write down what will be helpful for you in the future. What is the opposite of the thoughts that overwhelmed you before you allowed yourself to feel and to release?
Over the course of a year I had written a stack of about 2 inches worth of index cards. I read them each day even as they were piling higher and higher and over time I realized new foundations were taking root and becoming the new way I was thinking. It didn’t happen overnight but I can say I am living proof behind the science that affirmations work. Especially when I put in the work and effort of writing the opposite of what I was thinking. The past foundations of negative or harmful self talk changed completely over time with the new things I wrote and let penetrate my mind over time. When new challenges, triggers or similar situations arose I found myself naturally going to the new ways of thinking and this was all because I put effort in retraining my mind.
It is not fun friends to deliberately ask yourself what you are thinking and want to change the foundation but the rewards over time are worth it. Don’t overwhelm yourself either, take it slow and do this at your own pace. Everyone is on their own journey. I’m still on my own journey as well, my own healing process from everything I went through including being in the midst of trying to find answers and help me with what I’m currently going through. So please do not compare your journey to anyone else’s. You were beautifully created. You are beautiful, you are unique, there is no other you out there. The things you have gone through with a chronic disease and in life matter.
YOU ARE LOVED. WHAT YOU ARE GOING THROUGH MATTERS. KEEP FIGHTING. KEEP LOVING YOURSELF THROUGH THIS.
Connect yourself with a connect group if you are not a part of one. Research a few online with people that understand what you are going through. I wish I would have done that in the 11 years I battled the two diseases. It would have helped tremendously in getting support, however, I had too many fears of opening up and thinking no one would understand. I now wish I would have. If you aren’t there yet in your mind and or do not desire to do that- it’s ok. Instead, find something or research other ways to find support.
Stay encouraged my friend you are worth being loved through this.