[pedagogue]

It is all about managing emotions, acknowledging limitations, and seeking out meaning to WHY you react so much to certain things.

1. Managing Emotions: What is a normal reaction, what is an over reaction? Do not let the emotions rule your life.

2. Acknowledge Limitations: You can't control everything, but you can control certain things. One thing you can control is yourself. You cannot control everyone and everything, so why try to?

3. Why: What triggered the feelings? Why did they trigger the feelings? What is the significance of the trigger and the subsequent reaction?

Short term you need a couple coping skills to stop the escalation towards a panic attack. The easiest is taking a Time Other (my own terminology).....which is taking time away from what you are doing and to do something else. It isn't so much a time out from everything (because that can lead to obsessing over what you took the time out from), but more of a way to get your emotions back in check. You could also actively acknowledge being uncomfortable, and ask yourself some 'grounding' questions like, "What is making me feel like this? Is it something worth getting worked up over?" etc.

-p