Panic attack on the bus.

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I had a panic attack on the bus because there was a screaming baby on the bus (beyond what my headphones could block out) and people kept bumping into me as it was busy.

Has anyone else had panic attacks on public transport? This happens to me a lot.

Has anyone got any advice to help with future situations? Because I can't drive so I rely on public transport to get anywhere more than 3-4 miles away (3-4 miles I will walk).

I expected it on an 11 hour flight, but they don't happen to me until I have been flying for 18 hours apparently.....
A metro, bus, or elevator is much worse though.....

I cannot use elevators at all. I haven't been in one for six months. And I cannot remember ever using an elevator on my own.

I used to get those a lot on buses or metros, especially busy ones. As with all panic attacks I just do self talk. I take deep breaths and remind myself that it will be over soon, I will survive this panic attack just like I survived all the others, that my body is playing tricks on me with its adrenaline cycle and that my thoughts have more power than my body. No silver bullets unfortunately, but it would helpe get through. I don't get panic attacks anymore but I used to have several a day. Now I can catch them and control them before they get very far.

That sounds exactly like my every day bus experience. Screaming babies! Makes me want to put a pencil in their head!

Buses here don't really get that busy though. They do at prime times, like when people are coming in and out of school/work, but I've never seen it get as bad as London buses.

I need to invest in some noise cancellation headphones/earphones.

I find diazepam (Valium) very helpful, at a low dose and ad libitum (i.e. you can choose not to take them when you don't need them, and take the ones you save at stressful times). I take them in preparation for stressful events, like travel or cinemas - they take at least 20 minutes to start having an effect, so you need to take them beforehand.

Diazepam is addictive and becomes less effective the more it is used (or abused). Some drugs (like Xanax) have an effect much more quickly, but are also more addictive.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone.

London buses can get very busy at rush hour, and even outside rush hour they are often busy. I get the 154 to West Croydon to go to my voluntary work, but I get it at 7am so that it is almost empty. If I would never be able to get it at 8.30-9am.

As for the Underground....I would prefer to pay for a taxi than go on the Underground during the rush hour. In fact the Disabled Students Allowance pays for me to get a taxi to university and back, simply because I cannot use public transport in the rush hour.

Although I love a cross-country train journey on a nearly empty train...very soothing.

They don't prescribe Valium anymore. At least very very rarely anyway. It's only really used in mental hospitals now.

The bus I get is my obsession, but that doesn't mean I haven't became upset on the bus before. Once I got on I had to stand up because all 32 seats were filled, and I glared at everyone and stood up angrily with my arms folded, and had to stand up the whole way because nobody got off. Then when I got off I noticed everyone on the bus were looking at me and smirking, which has taught me that seeing emotion in somebody is socially unacceptable, so I should learn to be more blank and robot-like (very ironic, I know). Then another time when I got on and all the seats were filled, I got angry and muttered, ''Christ sake!'' right in the middle of the bus, then stormed up to the back, and the girl sitting on the backseat looked a bit worried of me. then I felt stupid because I realised there was actually a couple of empty seats near the back I could've sat on.

Today I had a bit of a panic attack on the bus, because the shopping bag I was carrying had somehow got tangled on the zip of my handbag and I couldn't get it off, and I had already rang the bell and the bus was stopping, so I had to yank it off as hard as I could because I was in a panic about looking stupid, so I had to walk off clutching a ripped shopping bag. Of course I still probably looked stupid because some c**t at the front was staring at me.....but then again people stare at me funny even WITHOUT me looking stupid, so...yeah. (Excuse me French, I just get pissed off with people always reacting unempathetically to anything that is out of place on a person, even if it doesn't make them look unusual or weird in anyway).

I think the more you suffer with Agoraphobic symptoms, the more these things happen to you.

I cannot tolerate diazepam as I get paradoxical reactions from it. But I have asked my psychiatrist if she will prescribe me Clonazepam 0.5mg PRN and she said she didn't agree, which is odd as we normally agree on things like this.

I have an obsession about trains mostly, which makes travelling on them easier than the Underground or buses.

Amazingly I haven't had a panic attack on the bus, but it could happen. I imagine if it did I'd probably get off at the next stop and wait for the next one.

I have panic attacks on buses, trains and planes.
I try to tell myself it's ok and that the attack won't hurt me. Easier written than done though.
There's a book I find helpful. It's called "Fear. The friend of exceptional people. Techniques in controlling fear" by Geoff Thompson. It explains all about fear and is motivational.

This advice is probably minor, but I noticed that when my headphones don't block out noise well on their own, I put in ear buds and then headphones on top of them: double protection!

Noise sensitivities beyond capacity(baby crying loudly) ,violation of personal space (people too close to you), and touch sensitivities( people bumping in to you) might have caused your meltdown.

If you believe the baby alone caused your meltdown then a trade-off may be needed: a good set of comfortable emergency ear-plugs or noise protectors (which hinges on whether you can handle wearing them).

Good Luck,

TheSunAlsoRises

You need to seek out a seat close to a window(inside position of the seat not on the outside).

IF your focus is intense, look out the window and feel the music, feel it. IF this does not work, you need a secondary distraction; a book or crossword puzzle along with music.


IF you are standing(with a lot of people); it's a whole different ball game. YET, depending upon your focus and sensitivities, it can be dealt with.

As many posters suggested, ear plugs....and other methods of noise cancellation devices.

Use medication as a last resort which you may need under a doctors supervision IF it becomes a problem.

TheSunAlsoRises

I dont do public transportation simple as that, i would rather walk or bicycle to where ever i had to go even if it was 50 miles.

Public transport noooooooooooooooooo thank you.