What clues me in…?
I look at my present circumstances and ask myself two basic questions:
1. Are the people around me calm or at least capable of showing they can take care of themselves and have healthy boundaries? If yes, then I’m misinterpreting the people around me and I need to exercise self-calming techniques.
Sometimes, though, I over analyze things and rely on my intellect to justify my emotions which may or may not be completely accurate. I am learning to simply “check in” with the person nearest to me whom I think may be against me or whatever.
2. Am I taking proper care of myself? This includes a consistent sleep schedule, practicing moderation, meditating, seeing my therapist, taking my medication and reporting any side-effects or changes in my mood (I take numerous meds for psych and health reasons), eating properly, avoiding alcohol and triggering behaviors, etc.
If the answer is no, then I am not in the position to perceive my emotions as completely accurate. (Note: self-care is the hardest part for me, and I paid the consequences recently for not taking a particular medication several days in a row. Self-care needs to by my number one job in order to be gentle with myself and with others. If I neglect this, then I know I will undoubtedly have consequences. Sometimes, I think I’m smarter than the consequences (i.e. I can outsmart them if I do X, Y, or Z).
One would think that after 20+ years of knowing my diagnosis and its symptoms I would not risk consequences due to stubbornness or whatever. But, I’ve learned the hard way that age and experience means nothing if I do not continually practice self-care.
@Blueroses you stated that you don’t have any specific triggers. Have you tried keeping a log of incidents and preceding events? It might help to show a pattern of behaviors leading to unwanted incidents.