trying to stop being so thin skinned:
I had an online discussion with a random, we had a short but intense exchange until he replied and then blocked me, robbing me of a chance to reply.
I feel hurt because I couldn’t reply. To me that means he won. I feel insulted and angry.
Yes, this is something I should talk to about with a shrink, but the therapist I contacted hasn’t replied yet, so I might have to start looking for a new one if this one ain’t reliable.
In the meantime I turn to the second best thing I can think of: this channel.
I can try to rationalize it: I cannot change it, I’m letting that guy live free in my mind, letting it go is the rational thing to do.
Except that here I’m not being rational, but emotional and I don’t know why this triggers me so much.
Not having the last word triggers me. How would you solve this?
Very relatable yet very brave to talk to the „local pub“ about such a private matter.
I have circles I discuss such matters with:
- wife, closest friends, therapist - matters that make me feel very triggered because they know how to get me down
- friends, closed or niche chat rooms to talk about my stuff in general. Often not with clearname but still somewhat private matters
- open spaces (lemmy, reddit, forums). Stuff that does not trigger me so as to not spiral out of control if a troll finds me there
Coming to the problem:
Having someone put in the last word and blocking you is actually very petty and a last resort if someone got triggered themselves. I‘d say it is dumb but I have to say I did so myself if someone was very rude.
Try to think of it like this:
- this person does not know you so their judgement does not concern you
- if they said mean things and blocked they‘re probably very young and didn’t know how to help themselves
- thinking in winning and losing is not helpful at all. You should instead try to learn and help others to learn. Its not important who has done „better“ in a discussion
Btw getting triggered normally is evidence that something has hurt you in the past and not the current interaction is hurting you but it reminded you of a situation where you were hurt. You can try to solve it by speaking about these things with your therapist or close/reflected friends.
I hope this is helpful. I wish you good luck.
Just out of curiosity: Why do you ask that quesion every few days?
what question did I ask twice every few days?
Someone who withdraws from a discussion and blocks a person didn’t “win”, they ran, and deserve to be ignored.
never thought of it like this
Go outside. Pet an animal. Play in the snow if you have any. Get coffee with a friend. Etc.
You need to get out more man
You’re at this from the complete opposite of the right angle.
Your reaction is emotional and thus you need to face the emotion and dig at its cause. Emotions aren’t bound by rationality but they’re the core of the human experience, to try and suffocate away emotion you don’t find rational is a sure way to never find happiness.
You felt hurt, why? Why was this argument important to you? Did you feel anything more than hurt? Can you guess at why you felt like you felt?
Feelings are never right or wrong, they just are and will be no matter what you think of them. So you need to accept and acknowledge their existence and learn to understand them, to coexist with them, because they are you. Even more so than your skill in reasoning, your rationality.
I’m the same and it can be really difficult to deal with. The easiest ways I found are to, either, write it down or say it out loud to my girlfriend (as in, she knows it’s difficult for me and is willing to just listen to me rant to empty my mind). Works most of the time.
Blocking someone so they can’t counter your point doesn’t mean you win an argument.
Also, internet shit isn’t worth worrying about to this extent. Just try to move on and take comfort in the fact that the other person clearly cared about that exchange WAY more than you do.
I let myself see the positives of negatives and the negatives of positives.
You’ll “lose” time and time again in life, but how you process those losses will determine what gains come along with them.
If they block you, you never have to hear them again. That sounds like a win for you in my book!
Getting the last word in an argument isn’t a victory.
good advice
I can’t help you with this in the general sense… but trust me, if they block you, you won. That’s a full retreat on their part.
There’s actually an astonishing amount of good advice for this type of issue in the last thread you posted - and I note you haven’t particularly engaged in discussion there.
As for this, it’s not an issue of thin skin, and people who would tell you to get a thicker skin are generally not worth your time.
Figuring out why you feel the way you feel is a great first step to creating plans to change what you can change, and mitigating the core issue. Spend time with your thoughts and just “be mindful”. We are biological machines, whenever your body has extreme reactions to things, it’s trying to tell you something. You need to learn to figure out what it’s telling you, so you can give it what it needs :)
Good luck.
The reason your mind refuses to accept things you can’t change is that there are aspects of t that you can change.
For example, you have a tendency to get caught up in online arguments. You can change that if you want to.
The way to accept the things you can’t change is to carefully separate them from the things you can change, then commit to changing the things you can.
When something is bothering you, don’t just assume your perception of what’s bothering you is correct. In this case you think it’s the other person’s behavior that’s bothering you, but there’s a component to this that is from you, and you can change that.
It’s like you’re asking how to throw away some chicken bones “when there’s nothing left to eat”, but the thing you’re trying to throw away still has some meat on it. It is the meat, not the bones, that is tugging at your mind.
To say we must accept what we cannot change isn’t technically false but it’s an enormous oversimplification. Some people are dealt permanent cards in life, ones that they cannot change, but although one might argue this is a boulder/obstacle we must build a path around, the path can still challenge peoples’ humanity. To say “accept what you cannot change” has the second implication of applying expectations to someone dealt extra limitations by their circumstances, trying to dismiss any burden of accommodation. I believe in the doctrine “help people (who) help themselves (trying the best one can do)”.
In this specific case, I’d say he admitted defeat by blocking you.