I have anxiety.
I have spent nearly 60 years wrangling with it. I’ve learned a lot unpacking my own mental health. So when I offer you comforting words for someone with anxiety, I’m not coming from a position of being a therapist or some other mental health professional.
I’m writing from my heart.
Offering a short positive message for someone with anxiety
I’m going to dive right into the messages, ok?
You can find a ton of great information online about dealing with negative thoughts, meeting a person’s emotional needs, creating a safe space in relationships, and so on.
These are all really important.
Some of the best things I’ve done for myself over the years is to read and listen to others who have traveled this same road.
As far as I’m concerned, we all have some sort of mental health challenge, just like we all have physical challenges at some point in our lives.
And that’s ok.
Challenges are how we grow, right? So the best anxiety quotes for my money are those that point to this reality.
Don’t you love this message? The best thing about it, for me, is it points back to the person wrestling with anxiety and says “you’re doing way better than you think you are”.
Which, for me, has generally been the case.
Anxious people tend to have anxious thoughts and that can be an isolating experience, to be sure.
Having someone else notice that our own struggles can in some way make us a better person; well, that’s just the best place.
Encouragement in any form is indeed comforting words for someone with anxiety!
How to encourage someone with words
Life can get hard sometimes.
Downright difficult.
I’ve experienced it myself and so have those I love.
That’s why I’m always looking for how to encourage someone with words.
(Get an entire set of amazing affirmations and editable gift messages you can share here in my Etsy shop.
(Take a look at more ideas for using positive affirmations.)
One idea is to memorize a small handful of super encouraging phrases.
When you need one for yourself or a loved one, you’ll have a beautiful thing to say right on the tip of your tongue.
Sometimes we don’t have to say a lot to make a big impact in a friend’s day.
That’s encouraging to me! I’ll bet it is to you, too.
Words of encouragement and strength for a friend
Words of encouragement and strength are no joke.
Have you ever been on the receiving end of an encouraging gift of words from a friend?
I have and it can make soooooo much difference.
Just to know that someone sees me. Hears me. Is even trying to understand me.
What a gift that is!
So how do you do that?
Well, the words that have helped me were said with sincerity. I think that’s the key.
Take the phrase “I see you and I care.”
That’s so straightforward.
But those words are filled with meaning.
What I love is there are different ways to “say” words.
Yes, the words themselves are helpful.
But we don’t have to only say those words.
We can show those words.
That’s where simple tools like cards – of all sizes – come into play.
Look at this. I put those simple words on a graphic.
You can do the same with your words of encouragement and strength for a friend.
Pop them onto a blank card and give digitally or print for something concrete to put into your friend’s hand.
What to say to someone with anxiety over text
Be careful. When someone’s hurting it’s always best to reach out in person, not just through a text.
Ask if you can come and see them or offer to pick them up and go get coffee or something similar.
Text is very impersonal and can be very easily misunderstood.
That won’t help anyone and you really want to help your friend!
So next time you’re trying to figure out what to say to someone with anxiety over text, go see them instead. Pick up the phone and call.
Make it personal so they really know you care.
Now let’s look at a new relaxing idea for sharing with a loved one struggling with anxious feelings.
How does art reduce stress?
When you’re looking for comforting words for someone with anxiety, you can easily run out of ideas on what’s best to say.
I certainly have been there.
For me, art and creativity are a big part of moving forward when I wrestle with anxiety symptoms.
How does art reduce stress? How can art help with anxiety? In a variety of ways and the answers are going to be individualized for the person giving creativity a try. But here’s an idea or two to share with that friend or loved one who needs new tools in their anxiety-busting toolbox.
Start with something easy. Adult coloring pages.
These are everywhere. There are even ones with calming themes. As a friend, download some free coloring pages from online or buy a couple of coloring books, add a set of coloring pencils (better than markers at first since the pencils won’t bleed through the paper) and ask your friend to join you in some low-key therapeutic artwork. (If you want to try your hand at your own artwork, try my post on creating this colorful owl.)
To be clear, this is not art therapy, but therapeutic art (I know, it’s confusing). Art therapy involves a trained art therapist, but therapeutic art can be done by anyone with the intention of getting more in touch with their emotions and thought processes.
I’m a certified Therapeutic Art Life Coach (not an art therapist!) and the goal in exploring therapeutic art and creative methods is not to produce amazing artwork (although that often happens as a by-product), but to relieve the stress and tension caused by regular life. Things like anxiety and depression fit well into this category.
Can art help with anxiety?
Another idea to get creative with when trying to comfort someone with anxiety is to use positive affirmations.
These are easy to find online and what I love to do is add simple artwork to the affirmations to help them stick in my head better.
Take the graphic above. See that artwork? It’s a very simple abstract that anyone can do with some colored pencils, markers or paint. You can see more art + affirmation ideas like this one at my Etsy shop. You can use mine to help or make your own doing artwork together with your friend.
Once this method is practiced a while it can become easier to drop a few anxious feelings as you pick up the colored pencils. It’s a great method to just let go of some of those tense anxious moments.
Oh yeah, art can help with anxiety.
Creativity and anxiety
Creativity and anxiety really can go together.
In a helpful way, I mean.
Being creative is a great way to release anxiety in the moment – which makes it a useful mindfulness activity.
So asking someone if they’ve tried to explore their anxious thoughts through art is a tremendously helpful question.
We’ve been talking about painting, coloring and such but that’s only one way to express yourself with art.
Really anything that engages the mind – body connection is worth taking a look at.
Cross-stitch, sewing, scrapbooking, knitting and crocheting are all excellent ideas.
Sometimes picking up a hobby from childhood can also be a soothing source of comfort.
Besides painting, I love to sew bags that help girls stay in school (a great cause).
It’s a way to self-soothe, develop another creative outlet besides painting, and – even better – help someone else.
It turns out that serving others can be a strong help when learning to deal with anxious thoughts.
I know it often helps me.
A positive message for someone with anxiety
We’ve explored several ways to share a positive message for someone with anxiety.
Here’s another one.
It’s one thing to tell someone their life is a gift, it’s another to describe all the ways their life is a gift!
So do just that.
So many of us never hear that we’re a treasure and exactly what that means to another person.
Or we don’t take the time to see all the wonderful, beautiful things in our daily life.
I’ve often thought that we’re great as parents showering our kids with what they need to hear to build a sturdy sense of self and develop a sense of gratitude.
But what about all of us adults? We need to hear exactly how we positively impact the world around us and how a good God is actively loving on us!
So when a friend or family member is struggling with anxiety, tell them specifically how they make your life better. And help them count their blessings.
And then ask them how someone they know makes their day brighter and encourage them to share that positive message, too.
This is a fabulous habit to get into. Really!
