'Teen Mom' Star Leah Messer Shares How Positive Affirmations Helped Her Battle Suicidal Thoughts

Self-love and self-worth can be a struggle if you deal with depression or another mental health issue. You may not feel that you matter or that you’re loved, even though you are. “Teen Mom 2’s” Leah Messer found a way to help her when she feels like she’s struggling with her worth.

Messer said she used to have suicidal thoughts and didn’t love herself during the recording of her new podcast, “Life Reboot” on Wednesday. To combat these thoughts, Messer began typing out motivational words and sticking them on her mirror, so she could see them every day.

“It’s like I had to train my mind to know that I am loved, I am confident, I am worthy and until I said that repeatedly to myself and like, it just did wonders,” she said.

The practice also helped Messer when her daughter Ali was diagnosed with a rare form of muscular dystrophy called Titin’s muscular dystrophy. Messer said she had this expectation of who she had to be as a mom, wife and person, but she could never reach it.

Messer faced neglect accusations and was rumored to have lost custody of her children, though she told Us Weekly Wednesday that she never lost custody of her children. She and ex-husband, Corey Simms, did have a custody battle, which came after Messer sought treatment for anxiety and depression. Though she never lost custody, Messer said she was close.

“I wasn’t in the greatest place mentally and then it was affecting me physically, like it almost cost me my children,” she told the magazine. “I became suicidal. It was a struggle. I think that would be the lowest point.”

Now, Messer is teaching her three daughters about the benefits of positive thinking. One of her daughters, Addie, has already embraced the practice, writing on her chalkboard that she has a family who loves her and is blessed.

Daily positive affirmations like the ones Messer uses can be effective in diminishing negative self-talkand can improve your mental wellbeing and happiness. They’re especially beneficial if you repeat them on a regular basis. As Messer said, positive affirmations are a form of “brain training.”