Sometimes anxiety escalates beyond ordinary nerves into a wave of panic: a pounding heart, shortness of breath, dizziness, a surge of dread, and often the terrifying thought that something is seriously wrong or that you are about to lose control. Having a plan for these moments, especially in public, takes away much of their power, because so much of panic is the fear of the panic itself.
Panic is intense but not dangerous
The first and most important thing to know is that a panic surge, however awful it feels, is not dangerous. It is a false alarm: your fight-or-flight system firing at full strength when there is no real threat. The racing heart, the breathlessness, the dizziness are all the harmless effects of adrenaline, the same chemistry that would help you sprint from danger. Panic always peaks and then subsides, usually within minutes, whether or not you do anything, because your body cannot sustain that level of arousal for long. The National Health Service explains that these symptoms, while frightening, are the body's normal alarm response and are not physically harmful.
Do not fight it
The instinct in panic is to struggle against it, to try to force it to stop, which paradoxically feeds it, because the fear of the symptoms adds more adrenaline. The more effective stance is to ride the wave rather than fight it: to say to yourself, this is panic, it is uncomfortable and it is not dangerous, it will peak and pass, and I can let it. Allowing the wave to rise and fall, rather than battling it, lets it move through you far faster than resistance does. You are not in danger; you are having a false alarm, and false alarms end.
Breathe and ground
Two tools help most in the moment. First, slow your breathing, especially the exhale: in for about four, out for about six, which directly counters the over-breathing that fuels panic and signals safety to your body. Second, ground yourself in the present through your senses, feeling your feet on the floor or naming what you can see and hear, which pulls your attention out of the catastrophic spiral. Neither tool forces the panic to stop; they simply help you weather it and take the edge off. Slow breathing is among the relaxation techniques the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health notes can lower the stress response.
You do not have to flee
The urge in public panic is to escape immediately, and while leaving is sometimes reasonable, fleeing every time teaches your brain that the situation was genuinely dangerous and that only escape saved you, which strengthens the fear. If you can, stay where you are and let the wave crest and fall while you remain, even a little longer than is comfortable. Learning that you can experience panic and survive it without fleeing is deeply reassuring, and it gradually shrinks panic's power over you. No one around you can tell how you feel nearly as much as you fear; panic is far less visible than it seems from inside.
When panic is frequent, seek support
Occasional panic in feared situations is common and workable with these tools. But if panic attacks are frequent, come out of the blue, or leave you avoiding more and more of life for fear of them, that may point to panic disorder, and a professional can help significantly. Reaching out is a sensible step, not an overreaction, and effective treatments exist. Looking after your mental health this way is part of what the National Institute of Mental Health describes.
Panic cannot be reasoned away in the moment, only weathered. For why that is, see why you cannot think your way out of panic, and for the full toolkit, Unjudged.