Have you ever caught yourself in a mental loop? One anxious thought leads to another, and before you know it, your brain feels like a runaway train. You try to talk yourself out of it, maybe you tell yourself to calm down, be rational, or think positive. But none of it works. You just feel more out of control.
If that sounds familiar, it’s not because you’re bad at coping. It’s because your brain is doing exactly what it’s wired to do under stress, and in that moment, logic alone can’t help you.
This article is going to give you a set of tools I call your thought spiral emergency kit. These are 3 techniques that can quickly interrupt the spiral and bring your thinking brain back online, especially when nothing else is working.
Information source- Psychiatrist Dr. Tracey marks youtube video
What Happens in Your Brain During a Thought Spiral
Let’s first look at what is actually happening in your brain during a thought spiral.
When you’re overwhelmed, (your amygdala) your brain’s emotional launch system takes over. This is what we call a limbic hijack. Your prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain responsible for reasoning, planning, and impulse control, gets temporarily shut down.
That’s why you can’t just think your way out of it. Your brain has shifted from logical mode to survival mode.
What you need in that moment is not insight, it’s a reset. And that’s exactly what these 3 techniques are designed to do:
3 techniques
Technique 1: Cold Shock (Ice or Cold Water)
The first technique is cold shock using ice or cold water. This might surprise you because it’s not psychological, it’s physiological.
When you apply cold to your face or neck, it activates your parasympathetic nervous system (the part responsible for rest and recovery). This is called the mammalian dive response. It is a hard-wired reflex that lowers your heart rate and breathing, reduces cortisol, and interrupts the neural circuits feeding your thought spiral.
How to do it:
Splash cold water on your face.
Hold an ice pack, cold soda can, or frozen veggies against your cheeks or the back of your neck.
Even 30 seconds is enough to calm your body.
If you don’t have ice or water, step outside in cool weather or open a window and breathe cold air.
The goal is to create a sudden shift in your physical state that interrupts the mental loop.
This works best during high-intensity spirals—panic attacks, racing heart, or feeling physically out of control.
You don’t need to talk yourself down because your body will do the work for you.
Technique 2: Cognitive Defusion (“I’m having the thought that…”)
The second technique is cognitive defusion, from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. It is very simple.
When you’re stuck in a spiral of negative thinking, your mind is fused with the thought.
If you think, I’m a failure, your brain treats it as truth.
Cognitive defusion separates the thought from your mind by creating distance, allowing you to see it as a mental event—not a fact.
How to do it:
Add the phrase: “I’m having the thought that…”
Examples:
Instead of I’m going to mess up this presentation, say:
“I’m having the thought that I’m going to mess up this presentation.”
Instead of Everyone thinks I’m incompetent, say:
“I’m having the thought that everyone thinks I’m incompetent.”
This moves the thought from something you are to something you notice. It reactivates your prefrontal cortex—the part that helps you pause and reflect.
This works well when your spiral is driven by repetitive self-talk or worst-case scenario thinking.
The best part: you don’t have to challenge or change the thought. You’re simply changing your relationship to it, and that shift can break the spiral’s momentum.
Technique 3: Bilateral Stimulation (Alternating Movements)
The third technique is bilateral stimulation. It may be new to you, but it’s based on solid neuroscience and is the core mechanism used in EMDR therapy (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing).
Bilateral stimulation uses alternating movement or sensation on both sides of the body. This activates both brain hemispheres, interrupting rumination and activating emotional regulation.
What’s happening in your brain:
When you’re spiraling, you get stuck in left-brain analytical loops. Bilateral stimulation forces both hemispheres to communicate, shifting you into a more integrated state of mind.
How to do it:
Alternating knee taps: tap right knee with right hand, then left knee with left hand for 30–60 seconds.
Marching in place slowly with alternating knees.
Butterfly hug: arms crossed, hands on opposite shoulders, alternating taps.
Cross-lateral movements: right hand to left knee, left hand to right knee.
Keep the rhythm steady and moderate—like a calming metronome for your nervous system.
You may notice your breathing slowing down and your thoughts feeling less urgent.
Why it works?
It creates dual awareness—awareness of both the distressing thought and the physical movement. This prevents you from being fully absorbed in the spiral.
How to Choose Which Technique to Use
It depends on the intensity of your spiral and your situation.
Cold Shock (Ice/Water)
Best for high-intensity spirals:
Racing heart
Shallow breathing
Panic sensations
Cold exposure brings rapid relief.
Cognitive Defusion
Best for repetitive loops when you are not in physical distress:
Negative self-talk
Worst-case thinking
Situations where you must be discreet
Bilateral Stimulation
Best for moderate-to-high spirals:
Rumination
Overthinking
Self-criticism
It can be done anywhere and helps shift you out of analytical loops.
You can combine them:
Cold shock → bilateral stimulation → cognitive defusion.
Practice Before You Need Them
The key to making these techniques work is practice.
Your brain learns through repetition.
If you wait until you’re in a full spiral, they may not feel effective.
So pick one technique and practice when you’re calm, or when you feel the first hint of worry.
That way, when you truly need it, your brain knows what to do.
Know Your Early Warning Signs
You also want to notice your personal early warning signs:
Shoulder tension
Stomach pit
Thoughts speeding up
The earlier you catch the spiral, the easier it is to interrupt.
These emergency tools work best alongside prevention strategies like thought-checking and self-compassion.
Think of those as your first line of defense, and these three techniques as your backup when the first line doesn’t hold.
Module Recap and Next Steps
In this module on cognitive techniques for resilience, we’ve covered:
How to check your thoughts for accuracy
How to treat yourself with compassion
How to recognize and challenge cognitive distortions
How to interrupt thought spirals when they are already in motion
Together, these tools give you a comprehensive toolkit for managing your mental landscape.
Action Step: Choose One Technique to Practice This Week
Choose one of today’s 3 techniques and practice it this week—preferably before you’re in crisis mode.
Notice how it feels in your mind and body. Pay attention to which technique feels most natural. That is probably the one you will use when you really need it.
Building resilience doesn’t mean you never struggle with difficult thoughts.
It means you have reliable tools to work with those thoughts when they arise.
And that’s exactly what you’re building now—one technique at a time.
If you found this helpful, let me know in the comments:
Which of these three tools do you want to try first?