How do you work on feeling safe?

[Georgianne12]

How do you work on feeling safe?

Constructive, positive responses only please. I am not looking for responses that tell me to ignore the issue ie “do nothing” or “ignore it”.

Thank you.

I make a list for the week. have been doing this for years. Mostly things I need to do/get. It always starts with check doors, lights, windows, then I go to chores, bills, grocery, to do, goals, etc. I read it every morning and check the things I need to do, add anything I forgot. After a while, it is calming to read it and know that I did not leave anything off that could cause a breach of my home or some other event that I will have to handle.

Misplacing the list is terrible though, LOL. I keep it on the dining table now. When I go out, it is in my purse. When I have a panic attack, I step aside and read it and tap each item with my pen. It gives me a break from eye-contact with people while I calm down with my list/mantra.

I carry a big can of mace, LOL. It gives me a sense of control, although many people around me have explained away what it can't do, I still benefit from it. If someone is in my space, near my car, etc, I take it out and hold it pointed at them while I get back in the store/house/etc.

Hope this helps. Maybe this is more OCD than PTSD, but I can still go out and cope. My dog passed a few months back, I did lean on him a lot for feeling safe in the home, petting him to calm down, focusing on his needs to redirect myself. Dogs are a good source of PTSD relief, you can also blame them when you are not quite up to going somewhere, LOL. Hugs.

Being positive. I feel safe because I am safe. If it makes me feel negative then why? Do I need that in my life? Turn away from being negative, talking negative, listening to negative, negative media, and ruminating on negative.
I have had to let go of all the things that are beyond my control, and learned the difference between the things I wish I could control and the things I truly can control.
I have learned to embrace my "happy place" from EMDR and use it as an aid to relaxing. When I go there I can see, hear, smell, and feel that place.
I have learned to stop ruminating on the "what if's". Either it is or it isn't.
I have learned grounding. How to take in what is real around me and to believe in what is real, not imagined.

EMDR works? So glad to hear this, I am looking to try this. Googling Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. Thanks for this info.

 

[Freddyt]

EMDR works? So glad to hear this, I am looking to try this. Googling Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. Thanks for this info.

In reality - I would look first for a psychiatrist. Psychiatrists diagnose. They should be able to find the best therapy for you. Then you find a psychologist - psychologists treat with therapy and usually specialize to one type of treatment.