Any other newbie find their left hand wants to do the opposite when chopping that you press down on the 2 and 4 rather than release your grip?
I suppose that some sort of palm-muting technique could be an alternative . . . but far beyond my capabilities.
As a guitarist palm muting is my current solution, but going through Sam Bush's Rhythm mandolin course (and who doesn't want to play Rhythm like Sam!) he does show there are many situations where your pick hand needs to keep going. I suppose just like everything else the answer is slow it down and be focused and intentional with practise
Yes, that has happened to me. The way I corrected it was to practice my chops excruciatingly SLOWLY!