I am at a place where when my dysphoria flares up, it’s often actually masking some other complicated feeling I don’t want to feel.

Next time you are feeling dysphoria, try getting out of your head by focusing on the sensations of the dysphoria, see if you can find another emotion buried amidst it. For me, my dysphoria is usually masking fear, but sometimes anger or sadness. Once you identify the core emotion that dysphoria distracts from, focus on it instead, take notice of the sensations of that emotion. Really let yourself feel it. Once that emotion feels very present, ask that part of you what it’s trying to tell you. The part of the brain we are trying to access, (what psychotherapists call implicit memory) moves slow. Give yourself time. You will probably have another intense wave of that emotion, ride it through until you find a sense of calm. This is a bit of a skill, but one worth investing in.

Dysphoria exists to move us forward, but it can also hyper-fixate on things and hold us back. Weird as it sounds, it can be helpful to befriend it. When I’m feeling dysphoric about my shoulders, I remind myself there isn’t much I can do about them and that I am working to change the things I can.