Have you ever felt your heart race, palms sweat, and thoughts spiral into a chaotic mess of what ifs? You’re not alone in that struggle. has a way of creeping in when you least expect it, turning ordinary moments into overwhelming challenges. Whether it’s facing a crowd, making an important decision, or simply trying to quiet your racing mind, can feel like an uninvited guest that refuses to leave.
Here’s the interesting part, though. Sometimes the simplest tool to combat isn’t medication or meditation alone, it’s the very words you speak to yourself. Your internal dialogue holds tremendous power, and certain phrases can act like mental anchors, pulling you back from the edge of panic into a state of calm. Let’s explore fifteen phrases that have the potential to shift your emotional state when threatens to take over. Ready to discover what might work for you?
This Feeling Won’t Last Forever
When you remind yourself that a feeling is temporary, you break the illusion that creates. has a sneaky way of making you believe it’s permanent, that the discomfort you’re experiencing will stretch on endlessly. The truth is, emotions are fluid. They come, they peak, and eventually, they fade away.
Every emotion has a beginning, a middle, and an end, and no feeling lasts forever. Repeating this phrase to yourself during an anxious episode helps you recognize that you’re in a temporary state. Think of it like riding a wave. You’re not trying to stop the ocean, you’re just surfing through it until you reach calmer waters.
I Am Safe Right Now
One of ‘s favorite tricks is convincing you that you’re in immediate peril, even when you’re completely secure. means you’re feeling overwhelmed by a stressor, even when you’re in no immediate danger. Your body might be screaming alarm bells, but your rational mind knows better.
Saying “I am safe” grounds you in the present moment. It’s a simple reality check that cuts through the fog of panic. Look around. Are you physically safe? Is there an actual threat, or is your brain just playing tricks on you? Most of the time, you’ll realize you’re okay, and that realization alone can start to calm the storm inside.
I’ve Handled This Before
You’ve survived every anxious moment you’ve ever had. Let that sink in for a second. Reminding yourself that you’ve felt this way before and nothing bad happened can be incredibly reassuring. Your track record for getting through difficult situations is actually perfect, whether it felt that way at the time or not.
Chances are you’ve had that feeling many times, and those situations ended up being okay. This phrase taps into your personal history of resilience. You’re not facing the unknown completely unprepared. You’ve built up coping skills, even if you don’t always recognize them. Trust that you’ll figure it out again.
What Is the Worst Thing That Can Happen?
This eight-word question acts like a mental fire extinguisher, anchoring you instead of encouraging doom thinking. When takes over, your imagination runs wild with catastrophic scenarios. This phrase forces you to get specific about your fears instead of letting them remain vague and overwhelming.
It makes your brain slow down, assess reality, and realize that even if the worst happens, you can survive it. Honestly, when you actually think through the worst-case scenario, it’s often not as terrible as the nameless dread feels. You might discover that you’d have options, support, and ways to cope that you hadn’t considered in your panicked state.
I Can Do Hard Things
Knowing how to cope and trusting yourself are powerful antidotes to . This phrase is about recognizing your own capability and strength. You’re not helpless, even when tries to convince you otherwise. Life has thrown challenges at you before, and you’ve adapted, learned, and grown from them.
Telling yourself you’re strong and doing your best validates your efforts. Sometimes you need to be your own cheerleader. loves to diminish your confidence, but reminding yourself of your resilience builds it back up. You might not feel strong in the moment, yet saying these words can plant a seed of self-belief that grows.
My Brain Is Giving Me the Wrong Signals
This phrase acknowledges that your brain is sending false alarm signals. Your mind isn’t trying to hurt you, it’s actually trying to protect you. The problem is, it sometimes gets a bit overzealous and sounds the alarm when there’s no real fire. Understanding this can create distance between you and the .
disguises assumptions and worst-case scenarios as absolute truths, but just because you’re thinking something doesn’t make it real. When you recognize that your anxious thoughts are more like faulty smoke detectors than accurate threat assessments, you can start to question them rather than blindly accepting them as fact.
I Accept This Feeling
Fighting often makes it worse. Accepting the feeling rather than resisting it can paradoxically reduce its intensity. When you clench up and try to force away, you create more tension. It’s like struggling in quicksand, the more you fight, the deeper you sink.
Acceptance doesn’t mean you like the feeling or want it to stick around. It means you’re not adding a layer of suffering on top of the discomfort by berating yourself for feeling anxious. You’re simply acknowledging what is, without judgment. This gentle approach often allows the to pass through you more quickly than resistance would.
You Can Handle This
Referring to yourself in second person creates a sense that you’re calling in support from loved ones, making feel more manageable. There’s something powerful about switching from “I” to “you” when you’re talking to yourself during anxious moments. It’s like having a compassionate friend in your corner.
This small linguistic shift can make a surprisingly big difference. Instead of feeling alone with your , you’re almost coaching yourself through it. It creates psychological distance that helps you see the situation more objectively. Sometimes that outside perspective, even when it comes from your own mind, is exactly what you need.
I’m Doing My Best Right Now
Self-compassion is a powerful antidote to , and acknowledging your efforts while being kind to yourself matters. often comes with a harsh inner critic that demands perfection. When you’re already struggling, that critical voice makes everything worse.
Being kind to yourself won’t feel natural at first when you struggle with , but with practice it becomes a powerful way of soothing yourself. You don’t have to be operating at peak performance every single day. Some days, just getting through is enough. Recognizing that you’re doing what you can with the resources you have right now takes pressure off and creates space for calm.
This Is Just , Not Reality
is creative and tries to convince you that wild worst-case scenarios are absolute truths. Your anxious mind can be incredibly persuasive, painting vivid pictures of disaster that feel utterly real. Learning to separate anxious thoughts from actual facts is a crucial skill.
Reality and don’t always match up. Your racing heart and sweaty palms might be screaming danger, but when you look around, everything is fine. Naming for what it is rather than treating it as accurate information about your situation helps you regain perspective. It’s not that your feelings aren’t real, it’s that they don’t necessarily reflect what’s actually happening.
I Have a Toolkit and Will Use It
Reminding yourself that you have coping strategies available empowers you. Over time, you’ve probably learned techniques that help when strikes. Maybe it’s deep breathing, going for a walk, calling a friend, or using grounding exercises. This phrase reminds you that you’re not defenseless.
When your mind is racing with stressors and fears, it helps to take a deep breath and repeat a mantra. Having a mental inventory of tools means you don’t have to reinvent the wheel every time shows up. You’ve already done the work of finding what helps. Now you just need to remember to use those strategies instead of getting swept away by panic.
What Do I Notice Right Now?
Grounding techniques help you feel more rooted in your physical existence in the current moment by identifying what you’re seeing, hearing, and feeling. pulls you out of the present and into a future full of terrible possibilities. Asking yourself what you notice right now brings you back.
Noticing your thoughts and sensations as they come and shifting them back to the present moment helps keep your thoughts in a more bearable state. When you focus on concrete sensory details, your name five things you can see, four you can touch, three you can hear, you anchor yourself in reality. It’s hard to spiral into catastrophic thinking when you’re actively engaged with your immediate environment.
Thank You for the Warning, But I’m Okay
This phrase acknowledges your ‘s protective intent while gently reassuring yourself. Your isn’t the enemy, even though it feels that way sometimes. It’s actually trying to keep you safe, just in a misguided way. Thanking it might sound weird, but it helps you relate to differently.
Instead of fighting with yourself, you’re having a conversation. You’re acknowledging that your nervous system is doing its job, then calmly letting it know that this particular alarm isn’t necessary. It’s a surprisingly effective way to deescalate your internal state. You’re essentially telling your body, “I got this, you can relax now.”
I Will Move Through This
Being proactive and reminding yourself to move forward helps you shift away from . This phrase emphasizes motion and progress. You’re not stuck in this feeling forever. You’re moving through it, like walking through fog until you reach clear air on the other side.
The key word here is “through.” You’re not trying to go around, avoid, or eliminate . You’re accepting that it’s here right now and trusting that you’ll continue forward despite its presence. This mindset shift from resistance to movement can make feel less like an insurmountable obstacle and more like something you’re passing by.
I Choose to Focus on What I Can Control
loves the things you can’t control. It will spin endless scenarios about all the terrible things that might happen, none of which are within your power to prevent. This phrase redirects your mental energy toward what you actually have influence over, which is surprisingly calming.
You can’t control what other people think, whether you’ll get that job, or if your plane will hit turbulence. You can control how you respond, what actions you take today, and how you treat yourself through uncertainty. When you stop fighting with uncontrollable variables and focus on your choices, loses much of its power.
Conclusion: Your Words Hold Power
Reading phrases mindfully brings you back to the present moment where clarity and perspective are easier to find, serving as a mental handhold to release yourself from ‘s grip. The fifteen phrases we’ve explored aren’t magic spells that instantly erase . They’re tools, ones that become more effective with practice and repetition.
Different phrases will resonate with you at different times. Maybe today you need to remind yourself that the feeling won’t last, while tomorrow you need to acknowledge that your brain is giving you false signals. The beauty of having multiple options is that you can match the phrase to your specific moment of need. Your own voice can be a powerful tool in soothing your when you practice using these phrases.
What phrase spoke to you most? Which one are you going to try the next time shows up uninvited? Remember, you’re building a new relationship with yourself, one compassionate word at a time.
