Content Warning: This piece talks openly about emotional overwhelm, crying, rage, and coping rituals that might feel intense or messy. If you’re in a tender place, read gently and skip what doesn’t serve you. If you need support right now, reach out to a trusted friend, or connect with a local mental health line in your area.
Forget the jade rollers. Burn your affirmation cards. This is self-care for the emotionally overcooked and spiritually feral. The kind of self-care that doesn’t look cute on Pinterest boards or TikTok reels—because you’re not doing it to be seen. You’re doing it because you’ve hit your limit, you’re vibrating with rage, and you need to cry so hard you sound like a haunted accordion.
Welcome to the world of unhinged self-care rituals. They’re raw. They’re weird. And they actually work.
1. The Rage Bath
Start with the hottest water your skin can tolerate without peeling off. It’s not about punishment, so don’t go too crazy. Add Epsom salts, a reckless amount of essential oils, and whatever bath bomb you’ve been hoarding. Bring waterproof headphones. Queue up a playlist that makes you feel like the villainess in a campy revenge film. Think: Billie Eilish meets Nine Inch Nails with some Mitski sprinkled in. (I included my ragey playlist below)
Now, scream underwater. Not a cute scream. A guttural, primal, rage-against-the-patriarchy-and-also-your-ex scream. The water muffles the sound and the rage circulates through your bloodstream like a full-body exorcism. Bonus: nobody hears you cry because the bathwater is already loud, and the steam hides your blotchy face.
It’s basically baptism, but for people who got ghosted, laid off, or are just really tired of late-stage capitalism.
2. The Cry Walk
Not to be confused with a sad girl stroll. A Cry Walk is when you need movement and emotional leakage. It’s part cardio, part catharsis.
Put on sunglasses (yes, even at dusk) and walk like you’re on a mission—because you are. Your mission is not to emotionally implode on your couch again. You don’t even need a destination. Just walk and cry. Let the tears flow. Let your shoulders shake. Listen to music that understands you. Feel the drama. You are the tragic main character of this indie film, and yes, that person who passed you totally noticed—but who cares?
Your tears are compost. Let them water something.
3. Sink Floor Time
Sometimes you’re not mentally or physically prepared for a full bath, but you do need to be horizontal. Enter: sink floor time.
Turn the bathroom light off. Sit or lie down on the cold tile floor. Let the tap run. Maybe cry into the sink. Maybe just stare at the wall and disassociate. The hum of the pipes, the low lighting, the grounding sensation of tile—it hits a reset button buried deep in your brain. It’s the adult version of hiding under a cafeteria table in third grade.
Unhinged? Sure. Effective? Extremely.
4. Revenge Cleaning
When life feels out of control, start scrubbing. Pick a corner of your home and rage-clean it. Swear under your breath. Blast angry music (remember the playlist below). Pretend you’re erasing every jerk who’s ever wronged you with every wipe of the cloth. Clean like you’re preparing for a breakup you initiated—cold, calculated, powerful.
The result? A spotless kitchen and emotional clarity. Or at least the illusion of it. Which, frankly, is enough to keep going.
5. Voice Memos to Nobody
Open your voice memos app and just go off. Vent like you’re leaving a 3 a.m. voicemail to your emotionally unavailable crush or your boss who micro-manages you into oblivion. Ramble. Swear. Cry. Yell. Process out loud.
Then—and this is key—don’t listen to it. Just delete it. The point isn’t to reflect. The point is to get the bile out of your system so it doesn’t calcify in your ribcage.
Ask around. This is a way better solution than drunk venting at friends. They’ll appreciate it, and honestly, you could do without the judgement.
This is cheaper than therapy and arguably more unfiltered.
6. Dramatic Reenactments (Starring You)
Pick a moment that gutted you. A breakup. A fight. An email that sent you spiralling. Now reenact it—but make it theatre. Perform both parts. Exaggerate. Add an accent. Pause for fake applause. Do it into the mirror.
This is not delusion—it’s drama therapy. By externalizing your pain as performance, you get to reframe it, regain control, and maybe even laugh. Yes, it’s weird. Yes, it works. Yes, you can cry-laugh about it later with a friend who also has a Sagittarius moon.
Unlike venting at friends, this is activity that plays well with others. You might even want to go all the way and join an improv group (they’re not as bad as their reputation) or test the comic appeal of your emotional baggage at an open mic night. Ham it up.
We can laugh at most things down the road anyway. You’re just taking the toll road past the pain.
7. Petty Journaling
This isn’t your gratitude journal. This is the one you hide from guests. A ‘Burn Book’ for your eyes only. The one where you document every side-eye, every passive-aggressive comment, every time someone forgot your birthday.
Go deep. Get petty. Write like your journal is going to be subpoenaed by the universe.
Once it’s all out, you’ll probably feel lighter. Like maybe you don’t actually want to start a vendetta. But it’s fun to fantasize.
Why This Stuff Works
Because it bypasses performance and goes straight to the raw nerve. Most “acceptable” forms of self-care feel like aspirational bullshit. But the human body doesn’t always want a perfect skincare routine or meditation app. Sometimes it wants to freak out safely.
Unhinged self-care is honest. It acknowledges that real healing isn’t always pretty. Sometimes it’s snotty, loud, feral, ridiculous—and that’s okay.
You don’t need to be graceful to get better. You don’t need to be aesthetic to feel whole. You just need to survive today with your soul intact.
Image Credit: ChatGPTYour Turn
Got your own unhinged ritual? A heartbreak karaoke night? An angry hike in heels? A weekly dissociation appointment in your parked car? We want to know.
Tag @SheZineMag with your chaotic self-care confessions or send us your rituals for a chance to be featured. We’re building a library of emotional release that doesn’t require a therapist, a wellness coach, or a bra.
You can submit a pitch or Reader Story story here. We might publish it in our ‘Letters and Essays‘ section.
Your tears are sacred. Your rage is valid. And your rituals don’t need to make sense to anyone but you.
This is my Private Rage playlist. You have to listen to the whole thing, or do a quick skip for anything you especially dislike. It’s super random so if you hate one song, you might really like the next. Sometimes it’s about a vibe, not the lyrics.
I hope it fuels your feelings.
Your Turn: Healing doesn’t have to be quiet, polite, or pretty — it just has to work for you.
So let’s swap notes.
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AXO (she/her) is a multidisciplinary creator, editor, and builder of feminist media ecosystems based in Toronto. She is the founder of She Zine Mag, Side Project Distro, BBLGM Club, and several other projects under the AXO&Co umbrella — each rooted in DIY culture, creative rebellion, and community care. Her work explores the intersection of craft, technology, and consciousness, with an emphasis on handmade ethics, neurodivergent creativity, and the politics of making. She is an advocate for accessible creativity and the power of small-scale cultural production to spark social change. Her practice merges punk, print, and digital media while refusing to separate the emotional from the practical. Above all, her work invites others to build creative lives that are thoughtful, defiant, and deeply handmade.
