dealing with strong panicky or tense feelings

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Hi, I often get very strong surges of anxiety/panicky feelings, often after social interactions, or sometimes when I get an e-mail I have any feelings about. It's like a physical wave. (but not a panic attack, from descriptions I've read of those) And sometimes I just feel very crunched and tense and like I'm going to explode, or I want to put my head through a plate glass window. Again, this can be from social interactions but often it just seems to be from the stress of trying to hold it together throughout the day or from trying to think about/hold on to several things at once, or from being overstimulated.

Historically I have reacted to these kind of feelings by hitting myself, which I'm trying not to do so much. I've got some things that help. Sometimes I sort of "lean in" to the bad feeling and let it really hit me and then breathe deeply while imagining beautiful places in nature to calm myself down. And recently I've been trying EFT, which uses accupressure points to help calm myself down. Progressive muscle relaxation can help too sometimes, and guided calming meditations.

So I do have some tools but they all take time and often it feels like as soon as I get myself feeling a little better it just comes back again. I haven't been diagnosed with anything at this point, and I don't know if people here have experienced anything similar (and probably I haven't described it all that well anyway). But just wondering if people have thoughts about dealing with these sorts of overwhelming tense or panicky feelings or how to motivate yourself to keep doing the things that help even though it feels like a never-ending slog sometimes.

They sell panic squeeze toys online. Also when those feelings come over you could try hitting a pillow or another soft object instead of yourself.

Any kind of exercise will help to reduce the stress hormone cortisole. I prefer to walk or ride in nature somewhere as I find it clears my mind.

Thanks for the ideas. I feel like I've heard the pillow one before and not really taken it seriously but it felt helpful today.

I have this too. Hanging upside down from the bed as well as stretches helps a bit. It works the proprioceptive sense and helps at least distract one.