I’ve recently described the difficulty I’ve been having whenever I feel any sort of emotion. I’ve always had a problem managing strong feelings but it’s particularly tricky at moment. Sometimes just a flicker of emotion gets abruptly magnified through my tics, and this nearly always leads to a big overreaction. I’m finding this lack of control upsetting, so to try and re-establish some sort of balance, I’ve developed a cunning plan.

I’ve thought my plan through very carefully and written it down. I’ve broken it into three phases: before, during and after. Here’s a summary of what I aim to do:

Before
Spot the warning signs, and calmly explain to someone with me that I’m feeling upset. Ask them to help by giving me time to explain fully.

During
Breathe deeply and trace a circle with my eyes, clockwise first and then anti-clockwise. Squeeze and rub my arms slowly and rhythmically. If necessary, ask someone to prevent me injuring myself by holding me, and by squeezing my arms slowly and rhythmically as well.

After
Apologise or say thank you, but only once. Focus and concentrate on the next thing I’m going to do. Start over if I see the signs coming on again.

I’m hoping this plan is going to help me keep calm and in control of my feelings.