How do I keep myself from overreacting?

I practise doing a short breathing exercise whenever I feel that I'm becoming too emotionally involved in any situation

I use the STOP skill from DBT when I feel I am in danger of overreacting to something: S = stop (pause and delay your reaction, take a deep breath and avoid reacting on impulse) T= take a step back ( if you need to take a break, walk away from the situation to give yourself time to consider how to respond, if needed practice self soothing or distress tolerance skills) O= observe (look again at the situation you are in, observe how it makes you feel, see the options you have when you respond to it and how your reaction will effect others) P= proceed mindfully (being aware of the situation and you feelings about it, you are now in a position to respond to the situation rather than reacting to it).

Breathing exercises and meditation are always a good tip on that. Try to be realistic about the effects of things that happen to you - most of the time it is nowhere near as bad as one thinks.

Never react in the moment...if you have a tendency to overreact or act before thinking...pause. breathe. take in the situation and sit on it a bit. Take some time to be clear headed and not react full of emotion.

If you have difficulty with reaction, try to take a moment to stop yourself and go within. Ask yourself - what is this experience trying to show me? Why am I attracting this experience into my life?

i tend to do this a lot as well. my psychologist told me that, whenever i get a negative or unrealistic thought, try telling asking myself if that thought is true or false? most of the time it isn't & it's my brain trying to trick me. getting fresh air, writing things down, listening to music can also be good? at the end of the day, you know yourself best.

Remember that words can easily cause hurt, and that stress can cloud judgement. When I find myself on the way to overreaction, I try to calm down and reflect before making my next move.

When you find you are overreacting, take a step back from the situation and think about it. For example: If someone has hurt your feelings by saying a joke you don't appreciate, taking a moment to yourself to rationalize your feelings may prove to be helpful before speaking to them and saying in a calm way that you did not appreciate their joke.

When you realize you are putting yourself in this situation, only focus on the positive aspects of the situation and not much on the negatives

Try to talk in your head to yourself, it may not be easy, but keep trying, and maybe you are not even overreacting, maybe you just think like that. Try asking other people about what they think about this.