Help

Postby texasemily » Thu Sep 25, 2014 6:08 pm

I'm a 29 year old mother of three. I work full time and my boyfriend and his daughter live with us. I am on 20 mg of celexa but it doesn't seem to help when I get angry. My boyfriend and I fight a lot and it escalates quickly. He says things that are hurtful and enrage me. He constantly interrupts me and I feel like I'm going to explode. Sometimes he will walk away and I feel so disregarded and disrespected. I feel slighted and want validation immediately. I will scream, throw things, hit, get in his face, spit, cuss...you name it. After these bouts of rage I'm ashamed and tell myself I'm never going to do it again but I do it over and over. I also say hurtful and cruel things I should never say. I want to change desperately. I don't know how to stop losing control.
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#1

Postby Richard@DecisionSkills » Thu Sep 25, 2014 6:34 pm

There are two triggers you wrote about;

-1- He says hurtful things
-2- He interrupts

Since you know these things trigger your anger and you know they will happen in the future, figure out new ways to cope with these triggers now, don't wait for the triggers. For instance,

-1- Think of somewhere you can go to walk for five minutes, a nearby park.
-2- In case children make it not possible to walk, have an iPod with 5 minutes worth of songs that you enjoy.

These don't take care of the underlying issues you have, but may help you be better prepared to cope with the triggers.
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#2

Postby JuliusFawcett » Fri Sep 26, 2014 6:43 pm

You can forgive yourself, you are trying your best
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#3

Postby WonderGurl » Sun Sep 28, 2014 10:56 am

Rage is a feeling that does not belong to now as it belongs to something that happened in you past, whereas anger is emotion of the present and is appropriate, which means that, like Richard said, certain things trigger your rage. Looking at why you get so enraged when your boyfriend walks away, interrupts, and says hurtful things is probably the first step. It's not to say you shouldn't feel bad about it, but your reaction is certainly seems out of proportion as you are aware.

It may be worth bearing in mind that what your boyfriend says or does may not be intended the way you see it to be. Understanding that some people walk away when they need to cool down and regroup might be helpful to keep in mind. Interrupting is something that happens all the time when people communicate, and accepting interruptions as part of communication may be a more realistic thing to do. Your boyfriend saying hurtful things..in an ideal world that shouldn't happen, but we all have said hurtful things, so that's something you'd be best off communicating to him when both of ye are calm and collected.

Start looking at the patterns of the arguments: what brings them about, what causes them to escalate, etc. When you become aware of how the fights develop, you can then start taking conscious action in dealing with your reactions to things your boyfriend says or does. With practise, you should become aware of it when the feelings begin to take over and rationality goes out the window. You can learn little things that help you calm down before you blow up, such as, deep breathing and physically removing yourself from your boyfriend and the situation. Soon enough you'll be able to recognise the subtleties in your emotions and recognise as it's happening when your reaction is out of proportion and therefore prevent it from escalating further. It's about learning not letting the emotions take over completely and keeping some rational sense wich helps you recognise and deal with when you begin to overreact.
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#4

Postby Beloved » Fri Oct 03, 2014 4:56 pm

You both have OCD?
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