<p>Self affirmations is a kind of meditation, that is a specific state of mind, guided consciously. This kind of activity itself amends the person into a more direct and ordered state, actively improving the balance between the functioning of the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems.</p>

<p>This brings in the feeling of improvement and serves as a reward which helps to repeat self affirmation again. The more calm and ordered state of body lends even more control to the intellect which starts solving things, which also improves mood. This is widely used in medicine, for example, during child birth where the women are instructed to breathe calm and control the breath, which brings improvements of vital importance.</p>

<p>That being said, it is impossible to say, if self affirmation is primal. Maybe the fact itself of the sympathetic system function subsiding, gives birth to the feeling of improvement which is verbally perceived as a positive self affirmation. However, if free will is real then positive self affirmation is a good way to manifest it.</p>

<p>In any way the mechanism is complex and involves changing brain EM rhythms, probably with many other processes coming into play.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-09-22T21:53:09.953Z
2016-01-25T12:51:34.780Z
2016-01-25T12:51:34.780Z
noncom
<p>Most people get "depressed" every now and then - nothing serious, but people sometimes feel down. I am wondering if positive self-affirmation can make you happier by physically increasing the serotonin levels in your brain, or by some other mechanism.</p>

<p><strong>Can positive self-affirmation improve mood?</strong></p>

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2015-03-02T21:01:13.977Z
This is a logically problematic question.  How do you define "mere fortitude" in a non-circular, cognitively rigorous way?
Krysta
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2015-03-02T22:42:03.967Z
I mean more so whether or not someone can tell him or herself self affirmative statements in order to raise their base happiness level.
Bliebervik
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-03-03T13:03:11.133Z
That's not "mere fortitude" at all, but a specific kind of meditation. Try looking into the effects of meditation on mood.
Krysta
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2015-03-03T15:04:27.787Z
Sorry @Krysta. Forgive me? What do you think then? Can happiness be altered by meditation?
Bliebervik
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-03-03T16:46:49.040Z
What steps have you taken to answer this question yourself?  There's a LOT of material on this out there--try a basic search in Google Scholar and see what you come up with.
Krysta
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-03-03T21:10:00.230Z
Do we know if serotonin levels mediate positive affect? Positive self-affirmation can certainly make you happier, but it seems unlikely that serotonin mediates this relationship.
mrt
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2015-03-03T21:17:28.800Z
Hmm.. Do you mind elaborating?
Bliebervik
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2015-03-03T22:39:58.517Z
It's not clear that serotonin is directly related to changes in mood in healthy individuals (e.g., [see here](http://www.nature.com/mp/journal/v12/n4/full/4001949a.html)).
mrt
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-03-28T11:43:15.337Z
I edited the question to be more amenable to answering based on author's comments here. Please roll back or let me know if anything got lost.
Christian Hummeluhr
<clinical-psychology><mood>
Can positive self-affirmation improve mood?
Bliebervik
# Can positive self-affirmation improve mood?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-02-28)

Most people get "depressed" every now and then - nothing serious, but people sometimes feel down. I am wondering if positive self-affirmation can make you happier by physically increasing the serotonin levels in your brain, or by some other mechanism.

**Can positive self-affirmation improve mood?**

**Tags:** clinical-psychology, mood

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: This is a logically problematic question.  How do you define "mere fortitude" in a non-circular, cognitively rigorous way?  
> **username_0**: I mean more so whether or not someone can tell him or herself self affirmative statements in order to raise their base happiness level.  
> **username_1**: That's not "mere fortitude" at all, but a specific kind of meditation. Try looking into the effects of meditation on mood.  
> **username_0**: Sorry @username_1. Forgive me? What do you think then? Can happiness be altered by meditation?  
> **username_1**: What steps have you taken to answer this question yourself?  There's a LOT of material on this out there--try a basic search in Google Scholar and see what you come up with.  
> **username_2**: Do we know if serotonin levels mediate positive affect? Positive self-affirmation can certainly make you happier, but it seems unlikely that serotonin mediates this relationship.  
> **username_0**: Hmm.. Do you mind elaborating?  
> **username_2**: It's not clear that serotonin is directly related to changes in mood in healthy individuals (e.g., [see here](http://www.nature.com/mp/journal/v12/n4/full/4001949a.html)).  
> **username_3**: I edited the question to be more amenable to answering based on author's comments here. Please roll back or let me know if anything got lost.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_4 on 2015-09-22. Score: 1

Self affirmations is a kind of meditation, that is a specific state of mind, guided consciously. This kind of activity itself amends the person into a more direct and ordered state, actively improving the balance between the functioning of the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems.

This brings in the feeling of improvement and serves as a reward which helps to repeat self affirmation again. The more calm and ordered state of body lends even more control to the intellect which starts solving things, which also improves mood. This is widely used in medicine, for example, during child birth where the women are instructed to breathe calm and control the breath, which brings improvements of vital importance.

That being said, it is impossible to say, if self affirmation is primal. Maybe the fact itself of the sympathetic system function subsiding, gives birth to the feeling of improvement which is verbally perceived as a positive self affirmation. However, if free will is real then positive self affirmation is a good way to manifest it.

In any way the mechanism is complex and involves changing brain EM rhythms, probably with many other processes coming into play.


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