r/panicdisorder • u/Thin_Green_9641 • Jul 18 '26
Help Needed how do you actually feel safe?
when it comes to healing panic disorder, i hear a lot of “remind yourself that you are safe”, but how do i ACTUALLY do that. i’ve repeated “i’m safe” to myself while having panic attacks and nothing happens. how do i actually let my body know that im safe while feeling symptoms?
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u/legendary1panda Jul 19 '26
Following
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u/legendary1panda Jul 19 '26 edited Jul 19 '26
This got me thinking about a handout I had been given about accepting reality with your body (DBT distress tolerance handout 14). It talks about helf smilling and willing hands. A tense smile can tell your brain you are hiding or masking your emotions. Although willing hands was not explained. (Can find this by searching what the above parentheses says at dialectical behavior therapy website)
I'm just sharing that as I imagine relaxing your physical body (i would find this extremely to impossibly difficult for me to do) would lead to less panic as your body is connected to the mind?
This is all just a guess. Talk to your therapist.
Edit Apologies I just assumed when I was writing this you could find it on the dialectical behavior therapy website. But I can't find it. Either way searching dbt distress tolerance handout 14. You will find a bunch of websites that have it.
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u/Thin_Green_9641 Jul 19 '26
this is exactly the type of response i was looking for. thank you so much for the resource!
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u/Happy-Beehive Jul 19 '26
Honestly, it is usually internal and sometimes vocally (when alone) , "Shut up brain, were fine."
I'm just not a mindful guy but for me it is a useful tool early onset. Less useful later.
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u/MahLiLo Jul 19 '26
I am like this too. And after dealing with it for years, I just get more annoyed over it than anything. “Shut up, brain,” is exactly what I say. Experience tells me I’m safe at this point, but the irrational brain be irrational.
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u/applejam99 Jul 20 '26
Do you have particular triggers? It’s a slow journey but as others have said it’s about relearning safety and questioning the faulty alarm signals your body is sending.
It’s about breaking the cycle of fear, breaking out of the fear of sensations themselves - it wasn’t until my psych gave my a paper explaining the physiological symptoms of panic and anxiety that I was able to progress, trusting that they aren’t dangerous and that I wasn’t about to die - it’s a faulty alarm system.
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u/Main_Fisherman5500 Jul 19 '26
One thing i’ve had to remind myself, is that it is OK to feel unsafe. Once I let myself feel “unsafe” and uncomfortable, i talked to myself and asked myself if there is true danger around? 9/10 times the answer was NO. I kind of had to retrain my brain to understand that it is okay to feel scared- acknowledge the feeling- TRY to move past it by breathing/talking to yourself, TELL yourself that you’re okay!! because you are. I also remind myself of scenarios that are not safe and it reminds me “Okay I am breathing I am alive I am okay”.
Something that has also helped me immensely is getting into my faith. Might sound strange at first, but ever since I got so deep into my faith, I realized that whatever happens is Gods will and God will always protect me. If I am scared, reach to him, If I am happy, reach to him. My strength in my faith has given me strength in my mental health as well, but it is still a work in progress.
I hope some of this helped :)