Are you a big fan of open-air concerts and festivals, but don’t like large crowds?

Sensitive people in particular, can suddenly feel uneasy, anxious or stressed in crowded places.

What should you do if this happens to you?

One thing you shouldn’t do is try to suppress your feelings, says psychologist Gabriele Bringer.

In the following Q&A, she gives a few tips on how to handle these feelings and keep a cool head.

What causes a sudden feeling of oppression in a crowd of people, e.g. at a concert?

Large events, and also festivals, come with an enormous amount of stimuli: sounds, colours, smells.

People standing very close to each other in a confined area always means stress no matter how nice it can be and how good you sometimes feel in a crowd.

This stress affects people in very different ways.

Some people are better at deflecting it, while others experience sensory overload that may lead to a feeling of oppression, even if it’s really not all that cramped.

Simply knowing that there are a lot of people around you can trigger this kind of reaction.

Incidentally, some people aren’t aware that they react strongly to crowds until they’re in the middle of one.

How you feel that day also plays a role.

If you’re in poor form or worked too much the previous week, you’ll react to stress more sensitively than if you’re well-rested.

What can you do if you get an acute feeling of uneasiness in a crowd? 

If you feel agitated, start to sweat, breathe more rapidly or get a faster heartbeat, you should react to these initial signs, because if the feeling of oppression grows, it can easily result in a panic response.

Then there’s a danger of not being able to do what you need most at that moment, namely, think clearly.

So the most important thing is to keep a cool head and calm down for a minute to make a decision: Do you want to get out of the crowd, and if so, what’s your exit route?

Effective calming techniques vary from person to person.

One is deep, conscious breathing.

ALSO READ: Breathing from your belly is the best

Or you could take a sip of water, if you have some on hand.

What can also help is to focus on one person, e.g. someone with you, to block out the many people around you.

A further technique is mindfulness, in which you focus on your thoughts, feelings and bodily sensations without judgement.

Tell yourself – you can just think it – that you’re in a crowded place and feel very uncomfortable.

ALSO READ: Mindfulness meditation is proven to help reduce stress

These techniques can clear your mind and help you decide your next move.

Was it just a brief anxiety attack, and do you stay? Or do you go?

If leaving would feel like a defeat, you can plan on coming back.

Or go to a place on the edge of the crowd.

You said earlier that large events bombard you with lots of different stimuli. What if you feel overstimulated, like a saturated sponge that can’t soak up any more water?

It’s a good idea to have decided on a priority list of sorts.

What do you definitely want to see? What can you skip if need be?

It’s best to do this beforehand, because once you’re there, the impulse to see more is much stronger, especially if you’d really like to see everything.

When your brain signals sensory overload, you should reduce the stimuli you’re experiencing.

So get away from all the people, all the sounds.

Sometimes it’s sufficient to spend more time in the loo, so long as it’s not next to a loudspeaker.

For some people, it can help to put on headphones – not to listen to something, but to block out sounds and only take in optical stimuli.

Or you could close your eyes and just listen. – By Ricarda Dieckmann/dpa