That’s a good question. I’ve struggled with this sort of thing too personally by the way but I’ve gotten better about it.

When I’m feeling very bad, I feel like a mess. Like I don’t know where to even start untangling what’s going on in my head and my heart. And it feels terrible and I need help. This is the hardest part. But at least for me, this is the part where I have to clean myself up a little. Cleaning myself up a little means asking what’s really wrong, doing some basic self care (making sure I’ve eaten, slept, gotten sunlight, hydrated, showered, etc…).

Once I’ve done the basic stuff, then I ask my partner for help.

The last time this happened went a little like this, actually. I ended up telling him basically “I feel awful and I need help”. That’s being clean about it. I’m telling him what I need from him and he knows what to expect.

Being messy about it is saying for example, “I’m X and Y and I’m sorry I’m like that.” But being cleaner about it is if you can say “I’m feeling like im X and Y right now”

As an example it may feel like a really small distinction, but it makes it more clear what you’re looking for from him, and if this is coming from the idea that he believes things you say at face value, it would make a night and day difference

As far as untangling the situation where it looks like he believes the bad things you’ve said about yourself in the past, you might want to have a conversation with him where you basically say “hey I sometimes struggle with insecurities. I often phrase it as just saying bad things about myself, but I know they’re not really true or they’re exaggerated. I’ll try to do better about being clear when I’m looking for support, but it would mean the world to me if you met me in the middle and helped give me some encouragement and a reality check if I’m feeling bad about myself”

I hope my essay was understandable