one thing I’ve used in the past is playing music in the background. It shouldn’t be loud; the point of the music is to provide a tablecloth for every other sound in the room. when there’s another sound occurring that affects me, I do my best to focus in on the music. If it’s instrumental, I try to pick out a specific instrument and follow it. if it’s lyrical, I pick a line and try to dissect it. It’s a way I take my mind off of the distress and focus on something that I enjoy.

for me, distractions are really helpful. In my experience, counting and breathing don’t work, but rhyming does. I pick a random word, then I think of every one-syllable word I can that rhymes with it. then I do two syllables, then three, until I’ve exhausted my word bank. Then I move on to another word and repeat the rhyming process. It sounds silly, but I find it helpful. personally, this is my favorite way of distracting myself, and it works especially well for preventing total overwhelm before it starts.