The first and most important thing is to BREATHE! I know it sounds ridiculous but when I'm in panic mood I oftern am so busy thinking of the things that are happening around me and the feelings I go through it is quite easy to forget to breathe and take deep breathes. I find that breathing definitely helps calm me down it helps to slow everything down. I oftern find myself going off to the toilet or out of the situation for a few minutes and just taking that time to calm myself down. Although I can't always say this as sometimes I don't do it but it's so important that you remove yourself from the situation and always go back in to the place that made you anxious when you have calmed down. From previous experiences I have found myself leaving the situation although this is what I'm screaming to do at the time of a panic it's often the worse thing to do as the next time you return to that situation you associate your anxiety and feelings with that place.
I always find it useful to try and drink sips of cool WATER. When I'm feeling anxious my mouth always goes very dry which I don't like so drinking small sips of water always helps to suppress that feeling for me.
Another thing I've found useful is an app I have on my phone called RELAX (ANXIETY & STRESS RELIEF.) It helps control your breathing to calming music. I always try and have headphones in my bag for times where I just need to take five minutes to relax and breathe. You can adjust the timings on this app as to how long you want it to play for and the timings between inhaling and exhaling. I normally keep mine set to 5 minutes as that seems to be enough time for me to relax and calm down.
The last thing I always find helpful is TALKING. When I'm feeling anxious or having a panic attack all I want to do is not talk to anyone and just be on my own which seems to work for me but I've began to realise how important it is to talk to a family member or friend after an attack. I never use to tell anyone when I was feeling anxious or had a panic as I just didn't want to talk about it and just ignore it. For me this is the worse thing you can do, it's always good to have a little chat to someone you love and tell them how you feel as it will help you to stop bottling up your feelings but it will also help your loved ones understand what you are going through. I always find it best to talk to someone a good few hours after I've calmed down so I will sit and talk about it during dinner after I've finished work and I oftern find when you talk about your feelings out loud it tends to make sense and listening to others advice is always so important to me.
It's so important to remeber you aren't alone and there are so many people who are suffering just like you. I always tend to forget this because at the time it only feels like I'm the only one in the world dealing with these feelings and emotions but the more people you talk to the more people know someone or maybe themselves dealing with anxiety just like you.
