what is safety?

[FreyasSpirit]

For us, being safe means that we have space where we can curl up and be broken. There are many places which are neither safe nor unsafe such as work or at a store where we are not unsafe, but also would not be comfortable curling up and having a panic attack. The places and people who we consider safe are those who we do not try to suppress panic attacks and flashbacks around and instead, freely express ourselves, knowing that they will not judge us or try to intervene, but just let us have the flashback and recognize we need the time alone for recovery.

It is only within the last 6 months that we have been able to start curling up with anxiety around others. Before then, we needed to be alone to do this and being around others meant that even if they tried to give us space, we were unable to take it. We view this as a huge step forward that we are able to trust others to this degree and creates much more space for us to feel safe around others.