Emotional mistake spiral and Self compassion
Hello everyone,
I sometimes find myself "spiralling". It is absolutely awful. It is a complete loss of control emotionally. It often happens after I make a mistake. Which is followed by vicious me against me action and then everything just implodes. Sometimes the trigger is relatively minor in hindsight, but the effect is still the same.
Does anyone else experience this? How do you manage it in the moment and break out of the spiral? How do you manage it in the long term so that you don't find yourself in that position? Is the answer self compassion? If so, how did you guys manage to end up being compassionate to yourself, because I clearly am not in those times and it feels impossible to be.
@peachLemon9537 Welcome again to 7 Cups, please try our listeners as they can really help by emotionally supporting. But, it is very difficult sometimes for all of us. Being kind to yourself is one of the hardest things but we need to keep trying!
Listening - One Step At A Time!
@peachLemon9537 Hey, I think I have been in a similar position, the way you have described "spiraling". IT can be really, really difficult to re-set that way of thinking, and begin to go in a different direction.
Self-love and self-compassion are tricky things to teach yourself. One exercise I do with my younger kids is to teach them some motivational phrases that they can say to themselves, maybe in the mirror as they are brushing their teeth, or in a situation that makes them anxious. Simple things like "I am brave! I am beautiful! I can do hard things!" When we began to change the narrative that we speak over ourselves, then it is easier to start to believe that those things are true about ourselves.
Also, you could try to reach out to a listener, as Misty mentioned above. if you go to https://www.7cups.com/BrowseListeners/, you can use the keyword "anxiety" or "depression" or "mental health" to find someone else that has lived experience with those things.
Another idea would be to review this 7cups guide about managing emotions - https://www.7cups.com/help-managing-emotions/lesson1.html
Take care, and try to be gentle with yourself :)
-Purple