As discussed in a recent article, like with physical health, there are exercises we can do to help build capacities that can protect us from mental health disease and increase our resilience in coping with difficult life events. This article provides you with another practical exercise, and again explains how this exercise can tap into the brain’s ability to change.

This exercise and related topic is around self-affirmation. Self- affirmation is focusing on one’s strengths and / or focusing on values important to you. I’ll explain later what this looks like in practice.

The Science Behind Self-Affirmation

As with the exercise mentioned in the previous article, aside from opening up access to additional cognitive resources, there seems to be some more specific benefits of self-affirmation. This particular exercise has been shown to activate what is called the reward pathway in our brain. Why this is significant is that the chemicals created by this pathway also serve to buffer the chemicals created when we are stressed, in particular a chemical called cortisol. It is suggested that this movement to the reward pathway occurs because self-affirmation results in us holding a positive sense of self. In stressfull situations, particularly those related to personal performance (i.e tests, exams, presentations, speaking etc) there is a perceived threat to self-value.

At a practical level this means that undertaking this exercise before a stressful event has been scientifically shown to be protective of the effect of stress. The research suggests that some of the factors that improve the effectiveness of self-affirmation are having a future focus rather than a past one, and to focus on a value that is the most important to us. With this in mind below are some steps for effective self-affirming.

Self-Affirmation Exercise

1) Value Identification

Think of a subject / value that is the most important to important to you from the following list. If you already know of a different value that it the most important to you, then use that.

• Creativity
• Money
• Independence
• Politics
• Friends and Family
• Religon
• Humor
• Spontaneity / Living life in the moment

2) Reflect on why this value is important to you

3) Value Imagination Task

Imagine an event in the future where you are fully engaged in an activity that relates to this value.

For example if a value important to you is family, then imagine a future event with your family. Imagine as much detail as you can.

In Finishing

A Self-affirmation exercise is beneficial at a number of levels. Like with the “Broaden and Build” exercise from the previous article, it increases our access to cognitive resources. In addition self-affirming is protective from the impact of external stress as it provides access to neurotransmitters which introduce chemicals into our body which serve to reduce the impact of stress related chemicals in our body. Whilst including this in your mental health gym schedule is recommended, it can also be used on a day where a highly stressful event is expected.

If you do try this exercise, any comments to feedback regarding your experience would be gratefully received.

Thanks

Scott