Before I start writing about comforting words for someone with anxiety, I have to tell you.
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!
Positive Affirmations for Stress and Anxiety
You are strong and resilient.
Yes, you are.
I know we don’t always feel strong and resilient, but it’s amazing to me how much stronger and how much more resilient we often are than we feel.
It’s just human nature, I guess.
I love the idea of an affirmations gym!
You know, an idea of working out daily with our best affirmations and watching our progress over time.
I think we can do that for each other, too. Working with a buddy, asking each other every day or every week to share our favorite current positive affirmation just means we can grow strong and resilient together.
Awesome.
Comforting Words for Anxiety
We’ve been talking about finding helpful and comforting words for someone with anxiety.
Sometimes, however, the best thing we can do for our anxious friend is to listen. Really listen.
I know I often have thoughts that go round and round in my head and build and build.
Having someone who will just listen without judgment if a gift from God. Seriously. I don’t expect that person to solve anything. But by getting those tangled thoughts out of my head I can start to get perspective on them and see them in a new light.
A clearer light, usually.
So untangling thoughts together can be really helpful. And after that friend hears me out, I try to remember to ask if I can return the favor and deeply listen to them, too. That’s always appreciated!
Are you familiar with active listening? (Try this free and useful listening resource.) That’s a type of listening that’s super helpful to someone who needs to feel seen and heard (it’s good for all of us, actually.) Practicing these skills with a friend means you’ll feel more confident when the need comes up to clearly hear someone going through a tough moment.
Calming Words for Anxiety
Breathe. You are loved by me.
Are there any better words to hear than those? Anything more calming and caring?
We all need to be reminded to breathe. I can’t count the number of times I catch myself breathing shallow or holding tightness in my chest or gut.
Just. Breathe.
Put on some peaceful music or a beautiful, meditative video. Do some gentle stretches. Get a hug from someone you love. And breathe.
There are many excellent apps to help with breathing exercises. Daily breathing exercises can help a person feel more in control and therefore help with anxiety.
Of course, breathe is only the first part of that comforting phrase.
The more we remind each other of our love for each other the better, as far as I’m concerned.
And remember, loving someone does not mean you have to feel loving towards them all the time! Love is a decision, an attitude; the feeling of affection will come and go. That’s normal. The decision, the attitude is a choice so can be given and received freely.
Breath. You are loved by me. Yep. Those are great calming words for anxiety or anytime, anywhere, frankly.
Drawing Anxiety and Depression
Most people have not tried doing this for themselves, let alone with a friend.
The idea here is that art is therapeutic and can be a great way to get some tangled thoughts and feelings out of someone’s head and onto paper where they can see them and get a different perspective.
Doing this type of therapeutic art by yourself is great; doing it with a friend is wonderful, too.
Again, if you are not comfortable with your words, here is a method for working around a challenging conversation and still be helpful for a loved one with anxiety.
This type of creativity can be done a thousand ways but here’s an easy one to start with, as illustrated by the graphic above.
Take a clean sheet of paper and a pencil. Start doodling while thinking about how you’re feeling. It can be doodles of actual objects (flowers, faces, anything) or just shapes.
As you focus on your feelings, keep the pencil moving. Maybe the random shapes will keep coming. Maybe you’ll want to round off corners (or square them up). Sometimes the desire to shade in a portion of the drawing pops up. Sometimes a person will go from drawing something random and nonsensical to drawing something tangible like leaves or buildings or hearts.
All of this is fine. Keep drawing until you feel done. Use more paper, if you like. If you’re with someone and both of you agree to conversation, talk about what you’re drawing.
Check in with how you’re feeling from time to time. Have the feelings shifted? Increased or decreased? Completely changed? Stayed the same? There is no right or wrong answers here, just a simple way to increase your own personal understanding of how you’re feeling and often a sense of release as it gets out of your head, flows through your hands and onto the paper.
Whether that last part happens or not, this is worth doing regularly. And it might spark new creative ideas. In other words, you start out doodling and you remember that you used to make rugs and you decide to revive that hobby for a time.
So consider a new thing. Draw your feelings. And keep breathing.
Spiritual Affirmations for Anxiety
Comforting words for someone with anxiety – the research is clear – needs to include spiritual affirmations for anxiety.
If you’re a person of faith, you already understand this. If this is new or even feels uncomfortable, give yourself the space to think about it awhile.
Part of what causes a lot of anxiety in folks is the feeling of being out of control. As in, I can’t make the world – or my life – be just what I want.
I can’t do that. I don’t have that kind of control.
But, you see, God does.
Resting in that reality is huge. And it takes practice. A lot of times life looks like no ones in control! But I’ve seen too many things that have convinced me there’s a Higher Power.
For me, His name is Jesus. And I’m all in.
So spiritual or Biblical affirmations for anxiety are a major portion of my game plan. Bible verses top the list but I don’t stop there. Excellent wisdom quotes and my own writing out of scripture that applies to me also help me remember I don’t have to try and be in control. Someone better equipped already is.
I have a couple of apps you can check out if you want to explore this further. The Wild at Heart app, by John Eldridge and team or the Hallow app (this is a paid app I use which currently has a free trial available).
In addition, hop on over to this post combining Bible verses with therapeutic art. Lots of free downloads for you there, too.
A Creative Way to Make Positive Affirmations for Stress and Anxiety
Another therapeutic art idea when you want to help a loved one who is struggling with anxiety is to draw or paint or collage a word or words that seem to be troubling them.
Sometimes there will be a word that I’m obsessing about. Of course, it’s not really the word; the word is representing my worry.
Still, grabbing that symbolic word; tearing it apart into individual letters, and doodling them or painting the letters and coloring around them (or whatever form your artwork takes), can bring them back into the appropriate size.
And help give some perspective to the worry, too.
Take your time and be ready to use your active listening skills while doing this art exercise alongside your friend.
In addition, do this with favorite affirmations. Making those powerful, positive affirmations even more colorful or bigger or cut-and-paste out of an old magazine can bring new strength to an old and wise affirmation.
This is actually a great way to customize affirmations to work harder for you because the colors you use, the textures you choose, all of it, will help you connect more deeply with those affirming words.
And here’s even more:
What is the fear that dogs you? That frustrates you? That comes back over and over again? For me, that’s usually health or security related. A therapeutic art idea to help tame that anxious beast is to foster a sense of control concerning the worry.
Instead of running away from that fearful thought, I might write it out. I might do this multiple times if I need to in order to diminish its power. Then I can add art.
At first when I do this, my art is often dark representing my distress. But after working that through I’m ready to take charge of those fearful ideas and add colorful, beautiful art. The idea is that the anxiety needs to learn to answer to me. Not the other way around.
This takes practice of course, but it can be a different way to view familiar fears. Do this process over and over and take note of the strength of the anxious feelings. They may just diminish with practice. Yay!
Comforting Words for Someone with Anxiety
Well, we’ve talked about more than just words in this post. We’ve covered a lot.
I hope it gives you some more ideas of your own. And the next time you need a comforting word for a friend with anxiety, you’ll have something to start with.
And if your loved one is really blessed, they’ll have you to do some creative therapeutic art ideas with, as well.
That’s such an encouraging way to be a friend.
