I'm a solid winning SNG player for 4 years now and I've dealt with downswings before , sometimes for very long periods.

I've never broken any of my equipment and I don't believe I let tilt affect my play severely when I am in a bad period but I still have difficulty dealing with downswings and their emotional impact.

What I have trouble dealing with is the fact that I know that if I keep playing , and avoid letting tilt affect my play , my luck will change and I will start to win again. I know this to be the truth.

However that knowledge doesn't seem to make dealing with those periods any easier. I still have trouble avoiding the persecution complex when I've lost 20 of my last 30 coin flips or lose when I'm a huge favorite over a large sample.

I simply feel bad and can't avoid the instinctive urge to avoid the cause of this distress which is poker itself and my volume suffers. Obviously feeling bad when you're the victim of prolonged bad luck I think is inevitable even though I supposedly have the knowledge and experience to help me deal with these periods.

It seems like that knowledge still can't help me override the emotional distress of poker.

Do I need to create some kind of prayer or self affirmation before every session to drive the point across ? I'm at a loss as to how to use what I know to be true to help me deal with downswings.

I've read The Poker Mindset and am wondering if I truly haven't accepted the realities of poker. I think I have but at the same time accepting the realities of it doesn't make dealing with it any more pleasant.

Do I need to study Zen Buddhism in Tibet to truly become a player that can completely remain unaffected by prolonged periods of bad luck ??

improve your life outside of poker to make your mood less dependend on your swings.
only a new gf or a new job (or an upcoming big party) can do that for me.
if i dont have something like that, no matter how smart i am and how big my knowledge about standard-deviation, variance and 2 outers is, i simply keep getting angry for short periods.
i usually scream things like "****ing-****ed-****er-****ing-me-****ing-up-****-you-****tard"
(only in german, i replace **** with "scheiße").
only takes like 10sec-1 minute and im calmed down again.
sorry for off-topic, i know you mean longterm bad mood.

maybe you should take a break and learn a new game, its +EV in the long run,
and + recent feel-good atm, since its fresh, new, different and a lot of fun,
not like same game, same beats, all over again.
when you have a higher winrate you will experience shorter and smaller downswings,
and mixed-games still offer huge edges like nlhe in 2006.

the triple-stud tournaments 2.20-5.50$ are very soft and you should instantly be a winner, when you understood the rules of the 3 games and correct play on 3rd street (comparable to preflop-play).
although the 8-game cash 20c/40c is very soft and a lot of fun and easy (change-)money.
up to 1/2$ (25c/50c) you will win with simple abc-play.

dont think twice, follow my advice and soon itll all be nice.

I definitely deal with similar issues. I will let you know when I find the answers.

I like HU4's idea about learning a new game, I've actually been reading 7-Stud and I am getting ready to start playing. Such a good idea. New game, new persepctive.

HU4 I'm similar to you in that I can curse at my PC and yet be somewhat calm a minute later.

My problems usually arise when after prolonged periods of bad luck I have trouble dealing with beats at the beginning of a following session. I always get that "oh no not again" feeling. I usually start my sessions in a good mood even after a long DS but it can degrade quickly if the beats start to happen again at the beginning of a session.

Your advice is very good concerning learning new games .. it does keep you interested and passionate about poker and I've been meaning to do it for a while however my current financial situation won't allow it. I need to earn more before I'll have the time to invest to be able to experiment with other games. For now I need to stick with what I know and the games have not yet become routine for me. Playing does seem to become a chore though at times.

After grinding for 8 hours a day I can still probably invest a bit of time in learning a new game however I'm also in dire need of improving my Spanish and spending more time in front of my PC after grinding isn't the most appealing prospect right now.

FWIW what seems to help me the most is remembering all those times I managed to recover 2 weeks of losses in a single day.