3 things you can do when anxiety hits at a rave

Try box breathing

Your heart speeds up a little every time you breathe in, and slows every time you breathe out. You cannot tell it to calm down, but you can slow your breathing, and it follows. Four counts in, four holding, four out, four holding.

Name it, and use your own name

Putting a feeling into words switches on the language part of your brain, and scans show the amygdala, your brain's alarm system, going quiet as it does. Using your own name adds distance, so "Sam is anxious" lands more like a friend's problem than your own.

Get to someone you trust

Having someone you trust nearby changes how hard your brain reacts to a threat. A trusted hand helped most, and a stranger's hand still helped.

Box breathing, saying it out loud, and getting to someone you trust. In the trial every breathing group reported less anxiety straight after five minutes, and the version with the longest exhale came out best of all. Naming a feeling calms the amygdala, the brain's alarm system, and using your own name instead of "I" takes the edge off faster still. A trusted hand softened the brain's threat response, with a stranger's hand helping too, just less. None of these studies were run in a club, and the hand-holding one was 16 women under threat of a shock. Nobody needs a reason to step off the floor for a few minutes.