Rage and meltdowns.

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I hope I understand these terms correctly. That being said...

I had something that really p***'ed me off. Now I have myself in a state of anger that I can't shake. I think this is a rage? I am familiar with this state, and it usually leads to me looking for other things to be angry about, ending eventually in a melt down. Does anybody have any suggestions on how to shake this anger, without going into a meltdown?

I am way to familiar with this pattern, and I have set it as a goal to either reduce the frequency of my meltdown or get them under control. At the moment, I feel out of control and I want something new to be angry at. It almost feels instinctual that I need to be more angry than I currently am. It's almost as if I need the full meltdown to recover.

Does anybody have any suggestions on how to calm myself down?

This may be useless, as I only very rarely get into the state you describe. I learned long ago that my anger burns out and takes active stoking on my part to maintain. I find it both exhausting and unpleasant, so I deliberately choose not to stoke it.

On those rare occasions when I can't let it go in the way that you describe. I can almost always distract myself with an intellectual challenge. Can I think through an effective algorithm for automating a certain tedious process at work, for example--and implement it in code? Or I will just spend some time browsing the known exoplanets and thinking about their qualities and probable histories. I also have subscriptions on Youtube to channels that are almost always interesting and can take my full attention. When I give something my full attention, my anger dies.

Good luck dealing with it.

The first thing I'd think is to understand the anger emotion, it is very different from other emotions.
Read all of this very carefully and you may be able to look for what really triggers your anger as opposed to what you think triggered it.

I get that way too sometimes. It can really be hard. Sometimes I can control it but sometimes it's really hard and I just have to ride it out.

Oh, I get that way all the time, too...usually my first impulse when I first start feeling that way is to self-injure (my go-to method for letting off rage in the past) or act out my rage on my surroundings (throwing things, punching the walls, etc) but usually if I wait awhile and can sort of "sit on my hands" until those initial impulses pass, I just end up crying a lot....just crying and crying. And then I fall asleep for about 2-3 hours.

It can happen to me at times. Even as an adult, I sometimes get all rage-filled that I want to break something.

It was even magnified when I was in high school. If I got angry, I'd kick the walls.

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Try different things, see what works...

You could just wait it out. Most emotions, especially strong ones, are transient. Your mind wants to go back to equilibrium. Your anger will fade in a while.

Distract yourself. With emotions like anger, sometimes if you get moving physically it'll help change your mental tension to physical tension, and it's easier to dissipate that once you've had a workout. Or you could distract yourself from your physical body altogether by doing something primarily mental.

Relaxation exercises can help, especially of the sort where you can control your physical tension. Your physical state and your mental state are connected; relax physically and your brain may get the idea.

Do whatever you do normally to control stress. It's easier to get angry if you are stressed out and easier to stay angry when things around you bother you. Go and relax. Get rid of sensory stressors. Try to get away from people for a little while--all the better if you tend to yell at people when you're angry; that way you won't yell at anyone.

Oh, and make sure you have eaten enough and had enough to drink; make sure you are not in pain or becoming ill. Sometimes we are out of touch with our bodies and that kind of thing can be mistaken for anger, fear, etc. when really you just need a bowl of chicken soup and a nap.

As annoying it is to be upset, at least it will give you practice so you can learn more about yourself and deal with it more efficiently next time.