Don't stand so close to me

I have space/claustrophobia issues. And tonight at Mass, the young woman sitting next to me pushed my boundaries.

She followed right on my heels into the pew, and then stood right next to me. I turned to her and said quietly and with a smile, "Hey, hold on. Trying to make sure we all have room." She laughed and nodded. And stood there.

Then she kept inching closer and closer throughout Mass, even though there was at least 3 feet of space on the other side of her. At one point, she was sitting closer to me than John was.

I sensed that maybe she had a developmental disability. But that didn't stop the raging panic that washed over me. Sheer anxiety. I don't know what I thought would happen, but I felt like she was sitting on top of me and that there was no air in the church.

I felt trapped in the pew -- there was a couple with their small son on the left of John, the encroacher on my right and another family to her right -- and I couldn't speak because I was afraid I'd yell at her, something like, "Can you move? Can you move like one foot over?!?!"

John couldn't move farther over; he was practically sitting with the family next to him.

I knelt down at one point and buried my head in my hands. I was so panicked and upset.

I keep asking myself what I could've done differently. I tried to stay focused on Mass, but I could sense her sitting so close to me. As I said, I made an attempt to leave at one point, but I didn't want to climb over John or the families on the ends of the pew. It would've made a scene.

And I thought, "Oh, I'll ask her to inch over." But I knew it would come out angry and, perhaps, also cause a scene. I also worried she wouldn't understand.

So I prayed and tried to offer it up. But it was really unsettling.

Anyone else battle these sorts of issues? Any advice?