Ahhh, calming
this post was submitted on 30 Aug 2025
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This is TIPP skills 101. Instead of biting into a lemon, try the more socially acceptable atomic fireball or a warhead.
Neither of those allow you to also assert dominance by way of sheer confusion though.
Right!?! But the lemon has to be unpeeled and whole. Chomp down like it's a granny smith.
Ppl will bewilderedly wonder "Where did they get that lemon from?? They don't have a briefcase, or a backpack, and it would have been very noticeable in a pocket ..."
I bought some super sour lemon candies for the express purpose of having them for this scenario. I'm imagining something like...
Someone: Oh God! Oh no! I'm freaking out! I can't stand it!
Me: It's okay. Here, have this; it's impossible to have a panic attack while eating a sour candy.
Someone: Okay, if you say so... Hey, what the fuck?! This is unreasonably fucking sour! You dick!
Me: You're welcome.
The lime sour skittles are so sour that it works as a decongestant, ear wax remover and sinus cleanser all-in-one. They're great, l like to eat a fistfull at a time.
So what if several people at work are having panic attacks?
Do we all bite a lemon?
Like some sort of lemon party?
Also, is this why some companies offer free fruit baskets for their employees?
Not all that surprised. I've prevented people from having panic attacks by intensely massaging the palm of their hand. They usually wonder WTF I'm doing - but seriously, it works.
Are there any other tricks you can share to help with this? I had one while driving on the highway the other day and had to get off, park, and try to calm myself down. No idea what caused it.
If you mean what you can do to prevent your own panic attacks - I know of a number of people who have massage rings (aka therapy rings) and massage balls. When they feel a panic attack coming, they will use them by for example squeezing the massage ball pretty hard so it causes a slight amount of pain, and that has a similar effect. As @tomenzgg@midwest.social mentioned, the goal is to shift your attention from the panic attack.
Also, since panic attacks are often coupled with hyperventilation, the breathing into a bag trick isn't some TV trope, it actually works. I had to drive a friend of mine to the hospital for a severe panic attack and they did the bag thing, and I was blown away by how quickly she stopped hyperventilating and calmed down.
The reason both of these work is because they shift your senses to focusing on something, thereby rerooting your brain in being conscious of the fact that you're materially in the world (there's probably a more normal way to phrase that but hopefully it makes sense).
Your brain's trying to focus on the panic so these things give it something else to focus on, thereby interrupting your brain, if that makes more sense.
That's why another common recommendation is popping in a Warhead; the extreme sour has the same effects as the lemon.
Another common recommendation is rubbing your hands on a textured surface so that you can focus on the texture (bit of sandpaper might work (so long as you mind how roughly you're rubbing); bit of corduroy, maybe). That one's doing the same thing that unknownuserunknownlocation is doing because it's providing a texture or sensation for you to focus on.
Unfortunately, panic attacks can mimic heart attack symptoms (such as numbness or struggling to breath) but I usually focus on intaking breath. I figure, – if I can reasonably take in a full lungful of air and release it – then things can't be as bad as my brain is trying to tell me. Deep and slow breathing, in general, is also a common recommendation.
You can also just pinch a pressure point between their thumb and index finger
"Want me to show you a little trick to take your mind off that pain?"
-- Major Payne
I'm still offering that one regularly to my niece and nephew. They have never taken me up on it SO FAR.
So when life gives you lemons you nom nom nom it
When life gives you panic attacks, have a lemon instead.
Well it makes the mental freakout their problem, not yours so fuck'em
Altoids can also work if you want something more reasonable
A "super sour" chewy sweet/candy can also do the same thing, whilst being a bit more... subtle.
Get some ghost pepper or Trinidad scorpion hot sauce. That works too.
i do well with spicy salsas. i eat mrs renfro's ghost pepper salsa for fun. so my wife jokingly suggested i get one of those 5 million ~~btu~~ scoville gummi bears. i don't think she thought i would say yes. i also don't think she thought i'd say "let's do this tonight, in public!"
it was good, but godsdamn. there was something what said chew for five minutes so i set a timer. my saliva turned into liquid pain. if you aren't used to severe pain, 10/10. if you are used to severe pain, 8/10. it was intense enough, and the fact that it only lasted five minutes, made me understand folk who take too much capsaican as a religious sacrament. hell my experience was almost religious. left me like this for a while though.
i gotta say i'm not used to my eyes swelling shut and struggling not to drool because i'm terrified what the drool might feel like on my skin. and then like magic it was gone. so great. i don't even remember what the ice cream i soothed myself with tasted like.
How did you enjoy the second part of the ride?
bite into a lemon like it's an apple and start chewing to establish dominance
Just bite them.
They are prob super sour anyway.
But don't forget to maintain eye contract so they know you are paying attention to the meeting.
Instruction unclear, pineapple is stuck and boss is crying.
Tears of joy, new pleasure planes unlocked.
Allez Cuisine!
Ice cube on the head also works
Very doctor who
Please post about that experience afterwards. I hope someone will tag me