Have you seen those viral TikTok videos claiming that eating sour candy or biting into a lemon can instantly stop panic attacks? They're racking up millions of views, with comment sections full of people swearing these tricks work like magic. But as someone who's lived with panic disorder for years, I couldn't help but wonder: are these hacks too good to be true? And more importantly, could they actually be making things worse in the long run?

The Viral Sensation

One of the first videos that caught my attention was by a creator called Dr. Joe MD. In his viral clip, he explains:

"I'm going to show you one of the coolest ways to break a panic or anxiety attack: sour candies. How sour? The more sour, the better. Why? Because the intense sour taste acts as a sudden shock to your nervous system. This isn't a cure for anxiety or panic disorders. It can serve as a quick trick to break the cycle during the acute episode, giving you enough pause to regain a sense of control."

https://www.instagram.com/p/DCIbmONScmM

The video has millions of views, and there are countless others sharing similar quick fixes: licking salt packets, biting into lemons, or holding ice cubes.

https://www.tiktok.com/@themrimpulsive/video/7201137728921079082

https://www.tiktok.com/@jessekatches/video/7223852511348706603

https://www.tiktok.com/@giveahugz/video/7356666837897202974

It's no surprise these videos are so popular. When you're in the midst of a panic attack, you're desperate for anything that might make it stop. I know this feeling all too well. I used to carry a lavender-scented water spray with me and would spritz myself in the face whenever panic struck. And yes, it often did help stop the attack in the moment.

But here's the problem: I kept having panic attacks. In fact, they even got worse and more frequent over time. And what was especially troubling was how much anxiety I'd feel in situations where I realized I didn't have my "safety tools" with me.

The Psychology Behind Safety Behaviors

A few years ago, I interviewed Dr. Rita Santos, a clinical psychologist specializing in anxiety disorders. She explained something crucial about these quick-fix techniques that I think applies perfectly to these TikTok trends. According to her, even something as seemingly helpful as a breathing exercise can actually be unhelpful in the long term if you're using it to stop a panic attack.

Dr. Rita Santos explained:

"Safety behaviors are those things we develop or urge to do to keep ourselves safe... But in the long term, these behaviors create the right conditions for panic attacks to occur. The reason is that every time you do that, your brain is learning that if you didn't, something bad was going to happen. Therefore, the next time you are in the situation or you have a symptom, your brain has now learned that you need to do this. It's waiting for something that's going to happen and therefore is going to enter into survival mode."

https://youtu.be/fP34AZjo21w

In psychology, these actions are called "safety behaviors" - things we do to feel safe during anxiety, but which actually end up reinforcing the anxiety long-term. The research backs this up:

• One study found that patients who had stopped their safety-seeking behaviors during exposure therapy showed a significantly greater decrease in catastrophic beliefs and anxiety than those who maintained these behaviors.
• Another study found that safety behaviors tend to interfere with inhibitory learning and exposure.
• This principle extends to social anxiety as well, with research showing that exposure can be more effective if people with social phobia are encouraged to drop their safety behaviors in feared social situations.

The Research on Safety Behaviors

In psychology, these actions are called "safety behaviors" - things we do to feel safe during anxiety, but which actually end up reinforcing the anxiety long-term. The scientific literature on this topic is robust and compelling.

Helbig-Lang et al. (2014) conducted a comprehensive study examining the role of safety behaviors in exposure-based treatment for panic disorder and agoraphobia. Their findings were clear:

"Frequent safety behavior use at baseline was associated with actual safety behavior during exposure exercises. Pronounced in-situ safety behavior, but not baseline safety behavior was associated to detrimental treatment outcome. The results underline the relevance of a rigorous safety behavior assessment in therapy." (Helbig-Lang et al., 2014, p. 836)

This research demonstrates that the very behaviors we use to feel safe, specifically during exposure treatment or a panic attack can actually impede our recovery.

In a groundbreaking experimental investigation, Salkovskis et al. (1999) specifically looked at how safety-seeking behaviors contribute to the maintenance of panic disorder with agoraphobia:

"…patients who had stopped their safety-seeking behaviours during the experimental session showed a significantly greater decrease in catastrophic beliefs and anxiety than those who had maintained safety-seeking behaviour." (Salkovskis et al., 1999, p. 559)

This suggests that by stopping safety behaviours, we can actually decrease our catastrophic belief’s and anxiety levels.

The impact of safety behaviors extends beyond panic disorder. Kim (2005) examined their role in social anxiety:

"Results showed that exposure with decreased safety behaviors under cognitive rationale produced significantly greater reductions in anxiety and belief ratings for feared outcomes than exposure with decreased safety behaviors under extinction rationale and exposure with no change in safety behaviors. These results imply that exposure could be more effective if social phobics are encouraged to drop their safety behaviors in the feared social situation" (Kim, 2005, p. 69)

Moreover, Blakey and Abramowitz (2016) conducted a critical analysis of safety behaviors during exposure therapy from an inhibitory learning perspective:

"Safety behaviors generally tend to interfere with inhibitory learning and exposure….Therapists are advised to fade safety behaviors as soon as patients are willing." (Blakey & Abramowitz, 2016, p. 1)

This shows how therapists are guided to reduce safety behaviours as soon as possible to help recovery.

What's Actually Happening During a Panic Attack?

To understand why these TikTok tricks might work temporarily, it helps to understand what's happening in your body during a panic attack.

Your body has two different branches of the autonomic nervous system - think of them like two operating modes:

The Sympathetic Nervous System (Fight or Flight) When this activates during a panic attack:

• Your heart rate increases
• Your breathing becomes rapid and shallow
• Blood rushes to your muscles
• You might feel dizzy or lightheaded
• Your pupils dilate
• Your digestion slows down
• Your body releases stress hormones like adrenaline

Essentially, your body is preparing you to either fight a threat or run away from it, even though there's no actual physical danger present.

The Parasympathetic Nervous System (Rest and Digest) When this system activates:

• Your heart rate slows down
• Your breathing becomes deeper and more regular
• Your muscles relax
• Your digestion resumes
• Your body feels calm and safe

During a panic attack, your sympathetic nervous system is in overdrive, while your parasympathetic nervous system is suppressed. All those uncomfortable physical sensations you feel are signs that your body is stuck in fight-or-flight mode.

How TikTok Hacks Work (Temporarily)

What these TikTok tricks are essentially doing is trying to activate your parasympathetic nervous system to counteract the sympathetic response. The intense sensory input from licking salt, tasting something extremely sour, or feeling intense cold can trigger what's called the "diving reflex" - a parasympathetic response that slows your heart rate and breathing. In a way, it's like hitting the reset button on your nervous system.

But - and this is crucial - it doesn't address why your body is going into panic mode in the first place. More importantly, it stops you from learning that panic itself is not dangerous, and that if you allowed the symptoms to continue, nothing bad would happen. You would be completely fine and likely gain confidence in yourself, your body, and your ability to cope.

The Long-Term Problem

By stopping the panic attack with these techniques, your brain learns something very unhelpful. It adopts the position that you need the salt or lemon or ice to survive that panic attack. This strengthens the belief that panic attacks are dangerous and must be stopped.

Over time:

• You become dependent on having these items available "just in case"
• You develop even more fear about having panic attacks in situations where you don't have your safety tools
• Your overall anxiety increases
• That one time you don't have a sour candy? You're convinced you're screwed

This creates what psychologists call a "maintenance cycle," where the very thing you're using to cope is actually keeping your anxiety disorder going. This is exactly what happened to me.

What Actually Works for Panic Disorder

If these TikTok hacks aren't the answer, what is? I'll share what has worked for me and what research shows is effective long-term for panic disorder.

It sounds counterintuitive - and it's definitely easier said than done - but the most effective approach I've found is actually to lean into the panic. To surrender to it completely.

When I started approaching panic this way, everything changed. Instead of fighting my racing heart, I think, "Go ahead, heart. Beat as fast as you can. Go 20% faster if you want!" Instead of trying to control my breathing when I felt like I couldn't breathe, I'd say, "Okay breath, do whatever you want. It's not up to me."

https://www.instagram.com/p/DFkTTOnIyOc

This approach has a name in psychology: anxiety acceptance or anxiety willingness. The idea is to prove to your brain, through experience, that these panic sensations - while absolutely horrible - aren't actually dangerous.

Most people with panic disorder understand logically that panic attacks aren't dangerous, especially if doctors have reassured them multiple times. But knowing something logically and knowing it physically are completely different things. That's why you can still have panic attacks even though you "know" you're safe - because your body hasn't learned this lesson yet.

Research by Roemer, Orsillo, and Salters-Pedneault (2008) supports this approach:

"…psychological acceptance of anxiety symptoms predicts better outcomes in treatment than active control strategies. " (Roemer et al., 2008, p. 1083)

Essentially, accepting anxiety symptoms works better than trying to control them - which is what I was doing for most of my life.

My turning point came when I started walking toward the fear rather than trying to avoid it. I literally changed my mindset to want to have a panic attack, because I knew that facing it would put me one step closer to recovery - to understanding that I was truly safe.

Finding Balance

I want to be clear: I'm not saying you should never use these techniques. There is a place for safety behaviors, especially at the start of your panic or anxiety journey when you're still learning to cope. Sometimes you just need to get through a tough moment or a particularly intense panic attack, and I completely understand that.

But if you want to overcome panic disorder in the long term, relying on these tricks probably isn't the best approach. That's what I had to learn in therapy - one by one, I needed to eliminate each of these safety behaviors.

Some of these techniques can work well as grounding exercises, but that's a somewhat different application that deserves its own discussion.

The Path Forward

Have you tried any of these TikTok tricks? Did they work for you in the moment? And more importantly, did you find yourself becoming dependent on them? Did they ultimately make your panic worse?

This perspective is based on my experience, therapy, and my own research, but you might have a completely different take. I believe the conversation is more important than declaring what's definitively right or wrong.

Remember, even if you can't see the light at the end of the tunnel, it's still there. Recovery from panic disorder is possible - sometimes it just requires taking a counterintuitive path to get there.

About the Author: I share my journey overcoming panic disorder with agoraphobia and anxiety through my channel Anxiety Fitness. I'm committed to providing evidence-based insights that have actually helped me in my recovery journey.

References

Helbig-Lang S, Richter J, Lang T, Gerlach AL, Fehm L, Alpers GW, Ströhle A, Kircher T, Deckert J, Gloster AT, Wittchen HU. The role of safety behaviors in exposure-based treatment for panic disorder and agoraphobia: associations to symptom severity, treatment course, and outcome. J Anxiety Disord. 2014 Dec;28(8):836-44. doi: 10.1016/j.janxdis.2014.09.010. Epub 2014 Oct 5. PMID: 25445073.

Salkovskis PM, Clark DM, Hackmann A, Wells A, Gelder MG. An experimental investigation of the role of safety-seeking behaviours in the maintenance of panic disorder with agoraphobia. Behav Res Ther. 1999 Jun;37(6):559-74. doi: 10.1016/s0005-7967(98)00153-3. PMID: 10372469.

Kim EJ. The effect of the decreased safety behaviors on anxiety and negative thoughts in social phobics. J Anxiety Disord. 2005;19(1):69-86. doi: 10.1016/j.janxdis.2003.11.002. PMID: 15488368.

Roemer L, Orsillo SM, Salters-Pedneault K. Efficacy of an acceptance-based behavior therapy for generalized anxiety disorder: evaluation in a randomized controlled trial. J Consult Clin Psychol. 2008 Dec;76(6):1083-9. doi: 10.1037/a0012720. PMID: 19045976; PMCID: PMC2596727.

Blakey SM, Abramowitz JS. The effects of safety behaviors during exposure therapy for anxiety: Critical analysis from an inhibitory learning perspective. Clin Psychol Rev. 2016 Nov;49:1-15. doi: 10.1016/j.cpr.2016.07.002. Epub 2016 Jul 25. PMID: 27475477.