Emotional self regulation coping methods

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How do you cope with regulating your emotions? I'm trying to find a way to self regulate bc I'm getting extremely overwhelmed very easily a lot lately. Please help! I'm looking online and see methods for children, not adults.

that's frustrating, isn't it?

along with the wider stigma of autism in general being something only kids have, and something adults grow out of or "get over".

normally i like to go on long drives when i'm emotionally frustrated, to distract myself but i realize that's certainly not for everyone, and can even be very dangerous for many, when your emotions take precedence over driving.

otherwise for me, leaving the situation helps, going on walks, it's always better to distance yourself from the stressor (but not as much to deny its existence altogether).

what's overwhelming you?

^ Some good advice from Kip

I only find that distraction works for me like playing a video game or playing guitar which is fine when I'm at home but impossible to do when in a social situation that you can't escape ( or are afraid of escaping because you don't want to look weird or haven't got any decent excuses )

I nanny for a two almost three year old little boy and we have started potty training a few weeks ago. He has a potty watch that goes off every hour for him to go potty and he normally does a great job. But last Thursday, when I ran with him to the potty, he threw a tantrum and screamed and cried saying "No potty, I HATE the potty! No Thanks!" After trying to bribe him with a treat, it still wasn't working and he was still screaming. My emotions went from 0 to I can't take this anymore in a matter of seconds and I got really frusterated with him. Of course, he saw me getting upset and mad and copied me. His mom had to come in the bathroom and help me calm him down. Today, everytime I tried to get him to go potty, the same thing happened... His mom can't always come to his rescue and he LOVES me. (i'm talking about when I come in the house, he smiles and says "HI!" in an excited voice).

On a semi related note, I'm in Veterinary Technician program online and taking three classes (not a lot but the work load feels like its a lot). There have been an increasing amount of meltdowns that I've been having because I'm feeling the pressure of the deadlines and it's really draining... I was suppose to finish an outline today to turn in tonight and instead I'm listening to music, looking up emotional self regulation techniques because I feel so out of control.

Sorry for the long post, it's just a lot of stuff that's been going on....

Someone suggested I look up Effective Journaling for Emotional Regulation, but I cannot find anything that will help me... What are your thoughts on journaling for emotional regulation?

I don't think journalling would work for me - it would just keep me perseverating on the emotions.
I just have to go for a walk.
If that doesn't work, I go for a longer walk.
Bit tricky with a child to look after, I know, unless you can take him along with you.

Personally when I get stressed out or overwhelmed by something or someone I jump in my car and just take off somewhere quiet where I know there won't be much other traffic or people around, I find that cruising along country lanes with the windows down and the stereo on is quite relaxing.

Right now I rely on computer games and avoidance. I just bought a book called The Dysregulated Adult but I haven't started reading it yet.

I guess usually I just try to withdraw from the stressful situation (if there is one) and wait, and in the meantime it's helpful for me to engage in some practical activity that I can do fairly well, to take my mind off the trouble. I also sometimes try to discharge any physical tension by singing a good, loud song (which doubles as practice for my performing / recording special interest) or cycling (which doubles as healthy physical exercise). It's kind of tricky to make myself withdraw like that, because I always have a strong urge to tackle problems immediately and full-on, so paradoxically it can make the tension worse because of the worry that says "eek! I'm not dealing with the problem!" Nonetheless, these days I can usually talk myself down from that and come to terms with taking a break. And I'm lucky enough to have the ability to contain most of my strong negative emotions and soldier on through the trouble, and for some reason I don't have meltdowns. Avoiding potential stressful situations in the first place (where it seems practicable) is a major part of my general box of ASD coping strategies.

I having alot of anxiety at the moment but don't take medication so any help is appreciated

I would also appreciate any help on this one because I can't seem to control my emotions either whether it's anger, fear or crying my eyes out.

Sometimes I become overeager with happiness and joy and laughter and it makes me feel very Autisticm. And then NTs start talking down to me like I'm a ret*d or something.