Yes Lilly, because there is so much in common with drugstore self help books and prayers. Becasue I think affirmations are silly, I must think prayers are foolish as well. Where in the world did you get that? Are you being serious?
It doesn’t sound any better now that he is Senator Al Franken
Yep, all the difference in the world between repeating a formula of words to yourself in the belief that you are achieving good by so doing (formal prayer) and, well, repeating a formula of words to yourself in the belief etc etc (affirmations).
So even if some people benefit from it in the short term, you still think it’s silly.
Whatever you say LilyM.
Just because someone benefits from an action doesn’t mean it’s not silly or stupid.
Why do you think it is “mumbling”?
Perhaps.
Fine. Mumbling, screaming, talking, whispering. Whatever works.
Perhaps. Maybe I’m cynical because I don’t know anyone who does that stuff. And I know alot of people…
As a (five months to graduation) psychology student I will offer what I have learned about affirmations. They don’t work. Affirmations will not change how you feel. Just telling yourself that you “are strong and can get through this” will do nothing to change your psychological state and inner feelings. Think about a person who is compelled to say an affirmation like this. They most likely are in a state of anxiety, depression, or hoplessness. How did a person get in that state? How did they get themselves to feel the negative feelings that are compelling them to use an affirmation? The answer is questions. Thus, questions are the answer if you want to change your psychological state. A person who is depressed has been asking themselves a number of questions that have helped them get into the state of “depressed”. Some of these questions can be “why does life stink right now” (brain answers with reasons why life stinks) “How come this is unbearable” (brain answers with reasons for why the present situation is unbearable). When you ask yourself questions like this your mind will give you all kinds of supporting reasons in response to the question. A depressed, anxious, or sad person has done much more than just tell themselves a negative affirmation. They have asked very specific questions and then found answers to support them. It doesn’t matter if the answers are true or not the mind will give support to whatever question it is asked. The key then is to change the questions.
Christ’s goal wasn’t survival. And the God I worship tells me not to rely on myself too much. It took me 44 years to realize that I have nothing to prove to anyone, 44 years to get to the point where I really don’t care what people think of me, and 44 years to realize that next to God, I’m exactly nothing.
not nice, I was only postponing discussing it because I wanted to rehighlight my question to you.
I don’t really care how “smart” I sound. I was mentioning it because if you know Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs you know that self-affirmation is the final step before self-actualization (success) can be attained. You also know that no step of the hierarchy can really be skipped either (at least, not according to Maslow)
Actually, Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs would point to your very statement “I don’t need affirmations, I’m tough” as an affirmation itself.
Well, I apologize than. I never meant to imply that the people who use them are silly. Just that the affirmations themelves where.
I was thinking the same thing…now he seems to think “I’m better than you, I’m smarter than you, and doggone it, I make the laws for you”.
I suggest you get some money back for your “education”, if you think that you can spot a depressed person simply by looking at them.
Many family members who have lost a loved one to suicide would disagree with you.It’s funny that you say that because I lost my dad to suicide at nine years old. My mother knew the signs were there although unexpressed. I found your response very condescending and insensitive. What did I do but try to provide some helpful information? You feel the need to attack my education by putting it in quotation marks and suggesting I get my money back? Whether you like it or not body language and non-verbal communication is 93% of what we “say”. Maybe I’m wrong? I guess there could be tons of depressed people out there running around smiling and skipping though the day.I was thinking the same thing…now he seems to think “I’m better than you, I’m smarter than you, and doggone it, I make the laws for you”.
I suggest you get some money back for your “education”, if you think that you can spot a depressed person simply by looking at them.
I don’t think anyone is suggesting that self-esteem building is the end all be all of solutions to life’s problems. Again, as a psychology student you should understand this from Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Namely, if a person is hungry, sure, self-affirmation is not going to meet that basic need. If a person is lacking social affirmation, it is unlikely they are going to be able to meet their need for actualization through ONLY self affirmation (although MORE likely than being able to feed themselves through self-esteem
)Sometimes depressed people show physiological symptoms. SOMETIMES. Other times they don’t. A good friend of mine commited suicide after relapsing into depression. He had gotten treatment and his psychologist (a doctor of psychology, mind you) THOUGHT he was progressing nicely. Everyone… his family, friends, girlfriend, thought he was doing fine. Why? Because he was smart enough to control his physiology and therefore not to exibit any external signs of depression. In the meantime he had bought a gun and we know how the story ends.
I do not agree with Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and self-esteem is a dangerous load of bs. A person can fulfill 1 or not and still go to step seven. Look at the desert fathers, Saints, Buddhist monks etc. I never said a single thing about treating depression based solely on external symptoms. Talk about a straw man. You have erected a very large one in trying to attack an argument I wasn’t making. Suicide isn’t a high risk when people are in the lowest parts of depression. The risk comes right at the point you are talking about. The upswing. The upswing or the point where it seems people are rebounding is the point where suicide risk is the greatest and most prevalent. They aren’t showing external signs of depression because they are coming out of the depression and actually feeling better.I don’t think anyone is suggesting that self-esteem building is the end all be all of solutions to life’s problems. Again, as a psychology student you should understand this from Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Namely, if a person is hungry, sure, self-affirmation is not going to meet that basic need. If a person is lacking social affirmation, it is unlikely they are going to be able to meet their need for actualization through ONLY self affirmation (although MORE likely than being able to feed themselves through self-esteem
What is being said, however, and what is quite different than the straw man you are setting up to knock down, is that self-affirmation is an important need to be met in the process of self-actualization. Even Rascalking carries out self-affirmation, though he’ll probably never admit it.
Sometimes depressed people show physiological symptoms. SOMETIMES. Other times they don’t. A good friend of mine commited suicide after relapsing into depression. He had gotten treatment and his psychologist (a doctor of psychology, mind you) THOUGHT he was progressing nicely. Everyone… his family, friends, girlfriend, thought he was doing fine. Why? Because he was smart enough to control his physiology and therefore not to exibit any external signs of depression. In the meantime he had bought a gun and we know how the story ends.
You can’t treat the psychology of depression merely in terms of external symptoms. PTSD for soldiers, as an example, often manifests in internal ways without showing externally for some time afterwards.