When my kids were small and in a small-kid panic, I used to tell them, “You don’t have to worry about that. Just breathe in and out. That’s all you need to do right now.”
Sometimes it worked.
Now they’re big and occasionally in grown-person panic and I can’t tell them they don’t need to worry anymore. They’re smart. They know what requires their attention and what doesn’t. But the panic doesn’t always flow away because the responsibility isn’t theirs.
I think the breathing is still key, although it sounds patronizing and silly to tell an adult, “Just breathe. In and out.”
Silly and patronizing are kind of in the eye of the beholder anyway. If I don’t say it out loud, I pray it on their behalf. Please. Keep them breathing in and out.