Brooding

How do you quiet the tempest inside or your head when there's so much to fume over?

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy techniques, and maybe a guided meditation might help.

There may be a lot to fume over, but you don't have to fume all the time.

Distraction.

It doesn’t come naturally; sometimes it takes time, sometimes a long time, but I can usually redirect my mind.

It’s like turning an ocean liner, not a sports car. It requires patience.

Everyone's got things to be angry about stacked like cord wood in their head. If one of those things is on fire, it also tends to set the rest on fire too.

You can't necessarily get rid of all the wood that's stacked up, you can just try to put out the flames.

Sometimes it's easier to punch someone who makes you angry. Of course, if they don't understand polite words.

LoL, I did like your post, though even I have too much self-preservation instinct to do something of that sort

I've often wondered about cognitive behavioural therapy. Do you have any experience with it that you'd be willing to describe to me?

I have to admit I don't have any direct experience with it, but I understand the general concept.

This book is one of the most highly recommended CBT books for depression:

Mind Over Mood, Second Edition: Change How You Feel by Changing the Way You Think
Dennis Greenberger, Christine A. Padesky

If you visit reading-well.org.uk, they have a list of other CBT books there, I think there may be a title that's focused on dealing with anger in particular.

Oh ho.. *cracks knuckles in preparation*

1) Consider the source - When someone says something or voices a negative opinion about you, consider if their opinion is worth the brain space necesaty to process it. If not, let it go. You already won by virtue of not being them.

2) Redirect focus - I have a little figit toy which is almost addictively satisfying to play with, the more annoyed I am the more aggressively I play with it. It helps to put that somewhere and focus on something else with the rest of my mind.

3) Visualisation - Picture yourself and picture the emotions, imagine stepping back and up, out of the emotions, leaving them behind. Picture it all falling away as you physically rise above it, watching it as you separate from it.

4) Redirect emotion - You have an intensity of emotion within you, find some film, music or TV show, something with powerful emotion which you can direct all that too. Tear jerkers are the best. a good cry to something safe like a heartbreaking scene in a film or TV show, or a good headbang to some powerful music tracks can be a cathartic experience.

5) Practiced apathy - Learn to just let go. It starts with realising how much energy it takes to care. Then move onto realising that they DONT care, so only YOU are carrying the burden of caring. Then just embrace the world weary apathy.

My sister has done CBT, from what she says its seems to be about identifying problematic thought and behavior patterns, ones which have arisen from and end up reinforcing mental health problems, identifying what healthy or productive thought and behaviour patterns you SHOULD be doing in stead and slowly working with you to instil them, which is largely about repetition. i.e. doing the thing you avoid doing or dont like doing until its habit. In my sister's case, facing anxiety inducing situations until she is used to them and opening up personally to people until she is comfortable doing so.

You need to be prepared for frequent questions about how you feel. Sometimes this can be annoying.

I appreciate all of the replies here. Thank you.