I recently went for a sleepover with my friends and in the morning till afternoon, i felt fine and confortable and very happy infact. However, from the start of dinner onwards, my mind completely switched. I felt the sudden need to want to go home and the strong feeling of crying. I started to get very anxious. This made me overthink everything and i couldn’t concentrate on anything, so i made a decision to leave the sleepover.
Hi Jan1,
Thank you for sharing openly about your feelings and what had happened to you. It takes so much courage to come on here and share something so personal and vulnerable. You are so brave! Really want to affirm your courage and willingness to share and seek support.
I’m so sorry to hear that at this recent sleepover, you experienced a sudden and complete change from being happy, comfortable and regulated to being extremely anxious and dysregulated. In fact, things got so bad for you that you decided to leave the sleepover prematurely. I imagine that experiencing this sudden anxiety attack might have been incredibly distressing and possibly overwhelming for you. Yet, you maintained enough composure to make the best decision for yourself in that situation which was to leave the sleepover. That’s no mean feat! Kudos to you! 
It is perfectly alright to do what makes us feel better in such situations. I am curious, Jan1, what happened after you left? Wonder if you managed to have some time to yourself to reflect about (a) what had happened, (b) what happened prior to the anxiety attack and (c) what happened after? If you have not, could I encourage you to perhaps journal these down? Sometimes in doing so, we might gain greater insight into ourselves and what happened.
Further, I want to affirm you that your feelings are all valid – the anxiousness, the strong feeling of wanting to cry, overthinking and feeling flustered and desire to leave. They are all valid. I also want to encourage you that it’s totally okay to cry. Crying is one of the many ways that we express and release our emotions and it can be very therapeutic. Wonder if you did in fact cry after you left the sleepover? Could I also ask if this was the first time this (anxiety attack) has happened? If this is not the first time, when was the first time it happened, and could you recall what was going on at that time? How often do you experience these anxiety attacks and how do you usually cope with them? Wonder if you have confided in anyone about what you experienced? Sometimes having supportive friends and family can help us a great deal.
Next time you experience an anxiety attack, perhaps you could try out some mindfulness strategies to calm yourself down. Here are some examples that you can try out that might help : https://mindline.sg/online-chatbot/self-care-exercises?category=mindfulness-practice 6
Most importantly, please do focus on taking care of yourself. Self-care can be broken down into several parts.
Physical health: Do eat well, sleep well and do some regular walking or exercise.
Mental and emotional health: Engage in mindfulness activities, try some meditation, yoga/pilates, breathing exercises like box breathing or the physiological sigh, or explore apps like Calm or Headspace and maybe start journaling
Social connection: reach out and connect with supportive people in your life whom you feel safe with and can confide in
I hope this has been somewhat helpful for you. Please know that we are here for you and you are not alone!
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