Ugh, that ""loop"" feeling is the absolute worst. It’s like your own brain sets a trap for you. I get that tightness too, usually in the grocery store line of all places. My brain goes ""remember that panic attack in the cereal aisle?"" and BAM, chest gets heavy. What’s helped me break the cycle is the 5-4-3-2-1 ""grounding"" trick. For real. It sounds silly but it pulls you out of your head. I literally did it in my car before walking into the dentist last week. Acknowledged FIVE things I could see (my steering wheel, a crack in the windshield, a dumb pine tree air freshener...), FOUR things I could feel (the weird texture of my jeans, the cold A/C, etc.). By the time I was listing TWO things I could smell, the tidal wave of panic had receded to a manageable nervousness. Someone on here once linked to this post from Citizen Advocates that has a few methods like this, it’s where I found the 5-4-3-1 trick. It’s no-bullshit and practical: breathing techniques to reduce anxiety quickly .You’re not getting stuck in that loop. You’re already breaking it by looking for tools. You got this.