Bed Life and Beyond

I carry with me everywhere, a small box of sensory items called my Safety Box. I use it to look through, smell, feel, write or draw with, etc, to help keep me grounded. I take it to hospitals with me every time I go to hospital. I take it out with me. I have it at home. I used to take it to therapy with me when I went to therapy.

It helps my overloaded brain to distract and engage with the sensory experiences in this Safety Box, to ground me to keep me calm and to help me reduce FND overload, and also to reduce flashbacks and panic attacks associated with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

In my Safety Box I have things like vintage scratch n sniff stickers (they smell perfect, I bought them on eBay), a toy cheetah my daughter gave me, a piece of milk glass I can look through and the world changes, tiny books I made and a friend made, a wishing stone another friend made me, scented mini highlighters (my favourite scents- banana and grape, from Smiggle), pretty die cuts, beautiful quotes, etc.

You can also put in things like bubbles to blow, fidget toys, slime, poppets, paper or notebooks to draw or write on, chewing gum, popping candy, scented oils, a short length of velvet ribbon to hold, etc.

You can have multiple Safety Boxes- a small one you carry around with you, and a bigger one at home with bigger things in it. A friend of mine has a big Safety Box at home.

I used to buy inexpensive papier-mâché boxes and cover them in paper I glued down to size with pva glue, and then I’d stick pictures and pieces of washi tape and pieces cut out of scrapbooking papers, and stickers, on the boxes to make beautiful Safety Boxes for my psychologist to give his clients, and for people I met in hospitals.

If you have a Safety Box or make one, I’d love to hear about it! What did you put in it?