Dear Sesha:

On March 3, exactly two months ago, you wrote: “those intense moaning is not tolerable, and I have to regulate my emotions” – because you referred to the term emotion regulation, I assumed that you were familiar with emotion regulation skills, that you at least read on the topic.  Fast forward two months and I find out that you didn’t read any book about emotion regulation and didn’t do any worksheets on the topic. (My lesson: do not assume!)

Good to read that you went for a hike with a group of people, I am very glad to read that you did!

I think that the more positive social experiences you have, the better (you said it yourself earlier)… and better of course, to avoid more negative social experiences at home by… not going home.

“Regulating those ‘suffocating feelings’ would be amazing…  I also have to say that I am often trying to avoid to think about those suffocating thoughts. I rather meditate than write down those things’ – emotion regulation skills are not about writing down your feelings. I remember one session with my therapist ten years ago, I was distressed; he didn’t ask me to talk about my feelings or to write about them, instead, he sent me for a walk outside the office, under the blue sky and the sun.

Much of emotion regulation skills is about what’s called positive distractions, that is distracting yourself from thoughts and feelings in healthy way (not about talking/ writing about them). Why don’t you research the topic, maybe consider borrowing (from a library) or buying one of those books/ workbooks that I listed in my last post?

Sesha