If you see a sign saying, ‘Please do not walk on the grass‘, the first thing you will picture in your mind is walking on the grass, you will then process the negative part of the sentence ‘do not‘.
This is because the instruction is thought about after the subject, (the subject is something we can see or feel). A more effective sign would be ‘Please walk on the pavement’, as your mind would first picture the pavement.
Now let us relate this process to the topic of anxiety. If you say to yourself ‘I will not be anxious today‘ the first thing you will picture in your mind is being anxious, which could trigger off anxiety symptoms immediately.
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