Programs · Panic attacks · False Alarm
False Alarm
Overcoming panic attacks with CBT
Panic is a false alarm — a healthy fight-or-flight response firing without danger. This program decodes the sensations, puts the catastrophes on trial, and then retrains the alarm directly, using the same treatment panic clinics use first. Ten to fifteen minutes a day, guided by your own log.
Panic has a shape, too
- Out of nowhere: pounding heart, tight chest, can't-catch-your-breath — and the certainty that something is badly wrong.
- Dizzy, numb, or unreal — like you're watching yourself from outside.
- The fear of the fear: scanning your body for the next one before it's even started.
- Avoiding the places it happened — the store, the highway, the meeting room.
- It's been more than one attack, and the shrinking hasn't stopped.
Your panic log drives the program
Not a course you watch — a loop you run. False Alarm reads every wave you log and prescribes your next step, the same way a panic clinic would.
Measure
A ninety-second panic log whenever a wave hits — plus a thirty-second evening check-in. Late is fine; logged beats unlogged.
as it happens · 90 secLearn
Short sessions with Elena teach the method — the panic cycle, the catastrophes on trial, why we invite the sensations on purpose.
10–15 min · most daysAdjust
The weekly review reads your fear ratings and prescribes your next rung on the sensation or exposure ladder.
weekly review↻ the loop runs weekly — six times
A rung on your sensation or exposure ladder clears once your fear rating hits 4 out of 10 or lower, on two separate attempts. Clear it, and next review prescribes your next rung — built from your own ladder, at your own pace.
Six weeks, one method
Seventeen sessions and six weekly check-ins. The first week is free — including your baseline panic report.
Week 1Understand the AlarmThe machinery, and the loop3 sessions
Week 2Defuse the SymptomsEvery sensation, decoded4 sessions
Week 3Retrain the ThoughtsThe catastrophes, on trial4 sessions
Week 4Meet the SensationsThe week that does the heavy lifting4 sessions
Week 5Reclaim the MapEverywhere panic fenced off4 sessions
Week 6Keep the GroundYour plan, your drill, your map3 sessions
Elena
Anxiety & exposure · guides 4 programs
The exposure specialist. Calm-under-fire, precise, gently confident — the voice you want when your alarm is screaming. Her warmth is in her steadiness.
“Hi, I'm Elena. Over the next six weeks we're going to retrain your alarm — not by avoiding the sensations, but by meeting them on purpose, until they stop meaning danger.”
The first-line treatment, faithfully built
Panic control treatment is the protocol panic clinics reach for first — before medication — and it works by decoding the sensations, testing the catastrophes, and then meeting the sensations on purpose until the alarm stops firing. False Alarm implements the standard multi-component protocol, in order, with the same measurements a clinic would use.
- Psychoeducation on the panic cycleClark
- Cognitive restructuringBarlow's PCT
- Interoceptive exposure
- Situational exposure
- Relapse prevention
We screen before we start
Panic sensations can mimic real medical emergencies, so we start carefully. If cardiac symptoms haven't been medically evaluated, the program opens in an education-only track until that clearance is confirmed — and the interoceptive exposure workouts are individually screened, so anything with a contraindication for you is hidden from your plan.
This program is not medical advice. We'd rather confirm you're safe first than let you push through the wrong protocol.
False Alarm, next to the field
| False AlarmResiliens | DAREdareresponse.com | Rootdrootd.io | HelloBetter Panichellobetter.de | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $149 one-time (draft) — the program is yours | Monthly $9.99–$12.99, Annual $59.99–$69.99 (varies by region/promo), plus one-time add-ons ~$16.99 each | Monthly $6.99, Annual $59.99–$79.99, Lifetime $179.99 | Fully reimbursed via German statutory insurance when prescribed (DiGA); self-pay price not published |
| Structure | 6 weeks · 17 sessions + weekly reviews | Audio-library model — Daily DARE, Wind Down audio, optional 7-day trigger challenges; not week/session-based | Three-tier self-guided toolkit — immediate relief, short-term lessons, long-term lessons; no fixed weekly curriculum | 12 weeks, 6 units, roughly 45–60 minutes per unit |
| Personalization | Panic log + evening check-in → ladder advancement → next rung | Challenge selection by trigger type, mood tracker | Weekly anxiety questionnaire with monthly trend stats; no adaptive personalization | Online journal plus recurring weekly symptom checks |
| Human support | Self-guided · clinician-referral gates built in | Optional paid 1:1 coaching add-on (no published qualifications or response time); peer 'DARE Buddy' community | Self-guided only — no clinician or coach; the in-app AI chat feature is not human support | An assigned licensed psychologist gives personal written feedback after each unit, via async messaging |
| Access | Self-serve, start today | Self-serve, direct-to-consumer | Self-serve consumer; an unpriced B2B plan is also listed | Insurance-prescription (Germany-only DiGA reimbursement) or self-pay |
| Breadth | 24+ program catalog · bundle 2-3 related programs and save | Broad anxiety/insomnia/intrusive-thoughts catalog, not panic-only | Anxiety and panic combined | Panic/agoraphobia-specific |
| Platforms | Web · iOS · Android | iOS · Android | iOS · Android | iOS · Android · Web |
Sources: competitor pricing and program pages — every production value carries a source URL and access date, and unpublished facts are labeled "not published," never guessed.
Why we built it differently
- The clinic's ladder, not an audio library. Your sensation and exposure ladder advances from your own logged fear ratings — the interoceptive-exposure mechanism that does the heavy lifting, not an open-ended library of calming audio.
- One price, available everywhere. $149 once, self-serve from day one — no insurance prescription, no country restriction, no waiting on a health system to offer it.
Start free. Continue if it's working.
First week
- Onboarding + two full sessions
- Panic log + daily check-in
- Your baseline panic report
Full program
- All six weeks of False Alarm, yours to keep
- Every session, review, and exercise
- Web + Untangle app access
Working on more than one thing? Related programs bundle together — two or three at a discount. Bundles are announced at launch.
Before you start
Do I need a diagnosis to use this?
No. False Alarm is built for the panic pattern, not a chart code. The onboarding screen checks whether the full protocol is right for you — and routes you to an education-only track first if cardiac symptoms haven't been medically evaluated.
How is this different from breathing or meditation apps?
Breathing helps in the moment; it doesn't retrain the alarm. False Alarm tests the catastrophes and then meets the sensations on purpose, on a ladder built from your own fear ratings — the mechanism with the strongest evidence base, not just a technique for right now.
What if I've never had my symptoms checked by a doctor?
The safety screen asks directly. If cardiac symptoms haven't been medically evaluated, the program opens in an education-only track until that clearance is confirmed — panic and cardiac symptoms can look alike, and we'd rather be sure.
How much time does it take?
A ninety-second panic log whenever a wave hits, thirty seconds each evening, and ten to fifteen minutes most days for the session. The real work happens in the ladder — a few minutes of meeting a sensation on purpose.
Be first to retrain your alarm
False Alarm is launching soon on the web and in the Untangle app. Join the early-access list and we'll let you know the moment it opens.
One email when your program opens. No drip campaign.