[drjannakoretz]

Body based coping strategies are helpful those moments. Try sticking your hand in a bowl full of ice water and leaving it in there for a few seconds, or taking a very cold shower. Some folks even do something called Ice Diving, where they place their entire face into a bowl of ice cubes and water. This actually triggers the diving reflex and it automatically calms your body. But you have to be in a place (like home) to do that. Other body based techniques can be used too that utilize other senses such as smell and taste. Fire ball candies are a portable option, and I've seen some people carry around tiny packets of pepper. You have to experiment a bunch to see what works for you. All of these ideas are derived from DBT. Behavioral Tech is the official company of all things DBT if you want to know more about all of it.

[Tharkun]

I doubt it triggers the "drowning reflex", which according to Wikipedia looks like this:

"Involuntary actions operated by the autonomic nervous system involve lateral flapping or paddling with the arms to press them down into the water in the effort to raise the mouth long enough to breathe, and tilting the head back. As an instinctive reaction, this is not consciously mediated nor under conscious control."

You may be referring to the diving reflex instead?

[drjannakoretz]

Yes, many apologies, I mistyped. I will correct now.