How can I control my anxiety attacks in public?

Have you ever felt lost? Felt like your emotions are uncontrollable? Felt like you are going to pass out? These all may be feelings that indicate you are having an anxiety attack. An anxiety attack usually involves fear or the negative thought of a problem that could possibly occur. We may all have different situations in our life where we feel overwhelmed and let negative thoughts take over our mind, but there are many ways to control this feeling and find a solution. If you ever experience an anxiety attack in public, these are some ways you can control it and distract yourself:

Picture your happy place: As the negative thoughts and anxiety attack occurs, it is important you picture yourself at a relaxing, happy, and positive environment. Whether this is your favourite vacation place, your home, or with someone who makes you happy, this can help distract your mind. By picturing yourself in your happy place, you will not feel as overwhelmed in public; closing your eyes and connecting the vision in your head to your feelings can help you calm down in public.

• Find a focus subject: Since an anxiety attack can distract you from the real world and cause a feeling of detachment, it can be helpful to focus on one particular thing around you. For example, since you are in public and outdoors, you can focus on the sky, the feeling of the wind in the air, the quick footsteps as people walk across the city, and more. By changing your focus and perspective, it can allow you to calm down and have a change of mind. Anxiety attacks often make you not realize where you are and who you are surrounded by because of the rush of different feelings. Therefore, finding a focus subject can help you connect back to reality and aware of yourself.

• Recognize that you ARE having a panic attack: Identifying the current situation you are going through can help you realize it is only temporary and that you are capable of getting past this. It is important to take away the fear stemming from the thought that you will stay in this situation forever; remind yourself you can use different techniques to calm your mind and body. The feelings and anxiety will go away when you choose to find ways to make yourself get out of that situation.

Overall, these are some examples of how you can control your anxiety in public. Remember to never be hard on yourself for the different things you may go through in life because we all face challenges! Life gets overwhelming, stressful, and tiring, but having a growth mindset and pushing through the tough times will encourage you to keep working towards your dreams!

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Responder: Sahar Baloutch