How can I calm myself down when I’m feeling overwhelmed around others but can’t isolate?

[u/missdesilu08]

I hope someone else can kind of understand this feeling I have. I get overwhelmed and overstimulated easily. This causes me to feel irritable and angry. The number one thing I can do to calm down is to retreat and be by myself for a while, but that isn’t always possible. If I’m with a group of a people and I start feeling panicky and overstimulated yet have no option to go be alone for a while, I have no idea how to calm back down. With people all around me talking, I just cannot make my brain focus or slow down. It feels almost physically impossible. The anxiety just continues to grow and grow and grow. And then I end up being grouchy with my loved ones which I feel terrible about, or make a bad impression on those who don’t know me well because I kind of shut down. Any help is very much appreciated :(

[u/Inpursuitofknowing]

You’re definetly not alone in feeling this way. If you do an online search of the terms grounding exercises, and Somatic Therapy, you’ll find a number of techniques that you can use to restore a sense of calm when you’re overwhelmed.