I only joined here yesterday but I hope some people here may have good advice.
I have been diagnosed a couple of years ago now, and had different medications and different therapy, my life is not as bad anymore at all and I am actually very lucky to have been able to get so much help.
The problem at the moment is this: I really struggle a lot with controlling how I speak to other people. I come across as quite rude and cynical, and often make other people upset or frustrated. I feel like it is very difficult to express myself in ways that other people understand, and it’s like I always get angry with people when I really should not and it has no purpose.
Basically, I am wondering if any of you have advice about ways you have learned to better control how you talk to people, or how to stay polite and calm even if you are talking about something which seems very important, when the people you are talking to do not understand what you are trying to say and are being condescending or dismissive.
I feel like that is really a big part of the problem, I don’t find it easy to control myself when I care strongly about what I think is the truth, and so I say things before really thinking about the effect it will have.
It’s hard. Practice. I’m in a bad place these days so I know I’d more easily say something and come off wrong so I’m not putting myself in situations where I’d talk to people much.
Sometimes you can catch yourself and learn to redirect your thoughts. It can help to focus on a physical area in the background and ground yourself that way. I tend to over analyze so if I’m not even extra nuts I still pick out things that I’ll think I did wrong.
I’ve found that is the best way. It means you don’t beat yourself up about stuff. I’ve found that a lot of symptoms go up and down so if you can tell when it’s likely to be a problem then stay away from talking to people for a bit.