Have you ever wondered why you feel unsafe, anxious, or constantly on edge, even when there doesn’t seem to be any real danger around you?
Today I want to talk about how PTSD affects our perceptions and can keep reaffirming that life is not safe, over and over again, even when our present circumstances are actually safe.
This can continually trigger old subconscious programs connected to unresolved trauma from the past. Those experiences may have happened many years ago, but the protective coping patterns we developed can continue influencing how we feel, how we see ourselves, and how we experience the world.
In the previous video, I talked about how PTSD can shape our identity and the way we meet the world. Now I want to explore how our subconscious mind develops these protective patterns and how they can affect our ability to recognize safety in the present moment.
How the Subconscious Mind Protects Us From PTSD based Trauma
Sometimes something happens in our lives that is simply too overwhelming to process.
This can happen during childhood, but it can also happen as an adult. I’ve worked with people who served in the military and experienced things that were almost impossible to process emotionally. These people were taught to push their feelings away because allowing themselves to feel everything they were experiencing could interfere with the difficult jobs they needed to do.
Similarly, a child who experiences abuse or overwhelming emotional pain may not have the support or ability to process what is happening.
When an experience becomes too much, our subconscious mind may protect us by disconnecting us from the emotions and sensations associated with it.
Our attention moves somewhere else, and we develop coping strategies that help us survive.
The difficulty is that these coping patterns can continue operating long after the original circumstances have changed.
How Childhood Experiences Can Create Lifelong Coping Patterns
Imagine a young child who is naturally sensitive and needs to express their feelings.
Perhaps that child expresses sadness, fear, or emotional needs, but their parents respond by shutting those feelings down. Instead of validating what the child is experiencing, they make the child feel ashamed or uncomfortable about having those emotions.
The child may gradually develop the belief that expressing their true feelings is unsafe.
Because survival and the need for love and acceptance are so important, the subconscious mind begins developing a strategy to protect the child.
That child might become a people pleaser, learning to put their own feelings and needs aside to avoid upsetting others and to receive the love and acceptance they need.
This adaptation can be helpful in the original environment.
But what happens when that child grows up?
They may no longer be living with those same people or facing those same circumstances, yet they continue putting themselves aside, pleasing others, and feeling that it isn’t safe to be who they really are.
The coping strategy has become a lifelong subconscious pattern.
And while the particular coping strategies vary from person to person, the underlying process can be very similar.
When PTSD Changes How We Perceive Safety
One of the most important things to understand is how these old protective patterns can influence our perception of the present moment.
When we repeatedly experience that it isn’t safe to express ourselves, feel our emotions, or be who we really are, we can begin developing a broader perception that life itself is unsafe.
We naturally have the ability to look at our surroundings and evaluate whether something is safe or dangerous.
We need to recognize genuine danger so we can protect ourselves. But we also need to recognize when we are safe so we can relax and engage with life.
With PTSD, old subconscious coping patterns can interfere with that evaluation.
Instead of seeing a situation clearly as it is happening, we may experience it through the protective patterns created during earlier traumatic experiences.
We might be completely safe in the present moment, yet our mind and body respond as though something dangerous is happening.
This can leave us continually protecting ourselves, defending ourselves, or trying to control our environment to feel safe.
And it can show up in many different ways:
•Constant stress or anxiety
•Feeling on edge or unsettled
•Panic that seems to come out of nowhere
•Social anxiety and discomfort around other people
•Feeling an overwhelming need to escape a situation
•Difficulty relaxing, even in familiar surroundings
•Feeling that it isn’t safe to express our true feelings or needs
The subconscious mind is trying to protect us, but the protective response may no longer match what is actually happening in our lives.
My Experience With Panic and a Changing Perception of Reality
I remember an experience many years ago when I was in a store and began having a panic attack.
I felt like there were people everywhere. I couldn’t breathe properly, and I had an overwhelming feeling that I needed to get out of there.
I had experienced feelings like this before, but I had never really stopped to understand what was happening.
Fortunately, I was with someone who offered me unconditional love and acceptance.
This person didn’t judge me for what I was experiencing. They didn’t tell me that I shouldn’t be feeling that way or try to force me to stay.
They simply accepted how I was feeling.
When I said I needed to leave, that was okay.
We began moving toward the exit, but something interesting happened.
Because I felt supported and accepted, I began wondering whether I could stay with the experience a little longer.
It was okay to leave, but it was also okay to stay.
That loving, supportive environment allowed me to stop fighting what I was feeling.
Instead of pushing against the panic, I began allowing myself to experience it while gently looking around and becoming more aware of my surroundings.
After some time, I realized that I had actually forgotten about the panic for a little while.
And when I looked around the store again, something seemed very strange.
Earlier, I had perceived the store as being packed with people, almost as though everyone was pushing against me.
Now, looking around, there were hardly any people there.
It was almost like experiencing two completely different realities.
As we eventually left the store, I was trying to understand what had happened.
And then a thought came into my mind:
“Wow, I didn’t die.”
For the first time, I had stayed with that experience of panic long enough to discover that the danger I had perceived wasn’t actually happening in the way I believed it was.
My protective subconscious response had been interpreting the situation as threatening.
But with loving support and acceptance, I was able to begin seeing the experience differently.
That was a powerful moment of awareness for me.
It helped me understand how strongly our old subconscious patterns can influence what we believe is happening around us.
Learning to Recognize What Is Actually Happening
This is something I really want you to begin exploring for yourself.
When we are experiencing anxiety, panic, or a strong sense of danger, it can be helpful to gently become curious about what is actually happening in the present moment.
Rather than immediately believing everything our protective response is telling us, we can begin asking:
•What am I actually experiencing right now?
•What is happening around me in this moment?
•Am I responding to something happening now, or could an old experience be influencing how I feel?
•Is there something I need to do to make myself safe?
•Can I offer myself some compassion and acceptance for what I’m experiencing?
This doesn’t mean ignoring genuine danger or forcing ourselves to remain in situations that feel overwhelming.
It means gradually developing the awareness to distinguish between what is happening now and what may be coming forward from unresolved experiences in the past.
Sometimes we need to leave a situation or find additional support. Other times, when we are genuinely safe and adequately supported, we may begin discovering that we can experience difficult feelings without needing to fight or escape them.
And that awareness can gradually change how we relate to ourselves and the world.
Explore the Complete PTSD Video Series
This article is part of my PTSD video series, where I explore how overwhelming experiences can create subconscious coping patterns, influence our identity and relationships, and change how safe we feel in everyday life.
Throughout the series, we’ll look at how these patterns develop and how compassionate self-awareness, mindfulness, and gradually reconnecting with our feelings and body sensations can help us develop greater inner safety.
You can explore the complete series here:
PTSD Therapy and Recovery Video Series
https://www.hypnotherapyvictoria.com/ptsd/
Reconnecting With Yourself Through Mindfulness
One of the most important parts of this process is learning to create a sense of safety within ourselves.
When something traumatic happens, we may disconnect from what we’re feeling because the experience is simply too much to handle.
Over time, we can become so accustomed to living in our thoughts and protective responses that we lose touch with what we’re actually feeling in our bodies.
Mindfulness can help us begin reconnecting.
We can start by finding a comfortable, safe place where we have the freedom to slow down, breathe, and gently become aware of our present experience.
We don’t need to force ourselves to feel anything overwhelming.
Instead, we can begin with small moments of awareness, learning to accept ourselves and notice what we’re experiencing without judgment.
As we gradually develop this supportive relationship with ourselves, we may begin to recognize when an old protective pattern is influencing our perception.
We can start seeing the difference between what our fear is telling us and what is actually happening.
This is where rebuilding inner trust and safety becomes so important.
Rather than pushing against the subconscious coping patterns that once protected us, we can begin meeting ourselves with the same compassion and acceptance that helped me during my experience in the store.
And slowly, we can begin reconnecting with our feelings, our body sensations, and the present moment.
FREE Self-Help Mindfulness Series
If you would like to begin developing these skills, I’ve created a free mindfulness training series to help you build greater awareness, self-acceptance, and connection with yourself.
For people experiencing PTSD and trauma-related anxiety, this training can provide a gentle foundation for learning to:
•Recognize when old emotional patterns are influencing your present experience
•Develop greater awareness of your thoughts, feelings, and body sensations
•Respond to anxiety and fear with greater compassion rather than fighting against them
•Gradually rebuild a sense of inner safety and trust
•Become more connected with what is actually happening in the present moment
The important thing is to move at a pace that feels manageable and supportive for you, without forcing yourself to revisit overwhelming experiences.
FREE Self-Help Mindfulness Series
https://www.hypnotherapyvictoria.com/free-self-help-mindfulness-series/
Counselling Hypnotherapy
Sometimes the protective patterns created through traumatic experiences can be difficult to understand or work through on our own.
Through mindfulness-based counselling hypnotherapy, I help people explore the subconscious beliefs, emotional patterns, and protective responses that may be contributing to their ongoing anxiety, fear, and difficulty feeling safe.
My approach emphasizes compassionate self-awareness, developing inner safety, and gradually reconnecting with ourselves rather than forcing or pushing against our experiences.
You can learn more about the methods I use here:
Counselling Victoria
https://www.hypnotherapyvictoria.com/counselling-victoria/
Hypnotherapy Victoria
https://www.hypnotherapyvictoria.com/hypnotherapy-victoria/
Free 1-Hour Video Consultation
If you’re experiencing PTSD, ongoing anxiety, panic, or difficulty feeling safe, I offer a free 1-hour video consultation where we can talk about what you’re experiencing, how it’s affecting your life, explore possible underlying patterns and root causes, discuss your goals for healing and change, and look at my therapy process to see whether working together feels like the right fit for you.
https://calendly.com/arnepedersen/free-consultation
Moving Forward With Greater Awareness and Inner Safety
The subconscious mind develops protective patterns for a reason. At some point in our lives, those patterns may have helped us cope with experiences that were simply too overwhelming.
But we don’t have to remain caught in those same patterns forever.
As we begin developing greater awareness, compassion, and acceptance for ourselves, we can gradually learn to recognize when our perceptions are being influenced by the past.
We can begin reconnecting with our feelings, our body, and our ability to recognize what is actually happening around us.
In the next video, we’ll explore this further and look at how we can begin creating a greater sense of inner safety through mindfulness and self-awareness.
I hope this has been helpful, and I wish you a wonderful rest of your day.
Arne Pedersen
Registered and Certified Counselling Hypnotherapist
Hypnotherapy Victoria
