What do you do when you panic in public?

[Upside Down Eagle]

This is a question for everyone here with PTSD.

I was wondering how each of you deals with panic in public. I´m talking about situations that are not very easy to get away from, and your house is not within "sprinting distance".

Lately I´ve been having many episodes where I just end up in the bushes somewhere or locking myself in a toilet until I´m a bit more calm. The cemetery in the city also is a great place to calm down because few people go there.

I was wondering how other people deal with it. Maybe I can learn something.

 

[shimmerz]

Car, bushes, any small space that I feel I can drop undisturbed into. However, I have been known to drop on red ant hills and ditches as well.... so yeah, no learning from this post but perhaps one day I can sit around and laugh about the ant hills and ditches. That day isn't today though. Probably won't be tomorrow either.

 

[Deleted member 12723]

I sit in my car or go outside to gather myself while I smoke a cigarette. It is a good excuse to get some quiet time, because it involves a little walking too. I do not recommend to start smoking. I can also retreat to sit in my car. I usually go home though if I end up in my car.

 

[Freida]

Tell people my service dog needs to pee and go to somewhere behind a building or a tree or some such. If I can't get away I just kind of shut down and run on autopilot

 

[Tornadic Thoughts]

Breathing exercises, excuse myself to find the restroom or to get to an appt., or to make a call, or to get back to what I was doing, or whatever I can find as the fastest way out, smell my diffuser necklace with my favorite essential oil in it, speak kindly to myself, and whatever else the situation calls for in the moment. It can vary greatly.

 

[deeplyloved]

Oils, prayer beads, music, strong lotion, sour candy, fast walking, finding a clean place to lie down on the ground or the floor, squeezing each of my fingers, putting my hands or my bare feet into water, holding ice cubes if I can find some, adjusting or playing with my jewelry, texting or calling my therapist...

 

[anonymous]

The last time I started panicking on a bus I counted in my head from 1 upwards and 49 down like - 1..49, 2..48, 3..47, 4..46 if that makes sense..it sort of helped..it slowed me down thinking what number comes next and I eventually felt calmer. Done it because getting off the bus wasn't an option.

 

[EveHarrington]

Usually go to my car.

 

[Sideways]

I don’t reach panic point very often anymore because my dog lets me know that my distress levels are getting too high before I reach that crisis point. At the point where he’s indicating to me that I’m distressed, I can usually get by with just going for a walk around the block as a bit of time out.

When I do panic? I get to the nearest toilet and lock myself in (with my poor dog!) and breathe through it, and then I go home. Whatever it was that I was doing? I’m not going to be able to go back to it straight away without just ending up in a panic attack again, and I actually need to go home and work on getting my suds down before I’m in a safe state to take on the world again.

 

[Mel]

This is a question for everyone here with PTSD.

I was wondering how each of you deals with panic in public....

478breathing..

 

[Lucycat]

I just freeze - so I can't go anywhere. However I have a sense of being invisible, so I am oblivious to anyone else. I think it is dissociation!!

 

[Gamereign555]

I was attending the symphony orchestra last time it happened. It was during their warm up. The instrumental sounds are so nonsensical if you have ever gotten seated early then you know exactly what I mean. And the lighting always gets me too. It was all very nerve-racking. In that instance I was able to talk to the person next to me and just chat.

I even mentioned that the surroundings had me on the verge of a panic attack though I was in the middle of one. But the act of just talking always helps me if I can get engaged in a conversation.

If I can I try to change of my surroundings by leaving. But I can’t always do that and it seems like the panic starts to build in the most inappropriate times we can’t leave.