Overcoming Spiraling Thoughts

Have you ever been going along in your day fine and then, seemingly out of nowhere, your mind spins out of control with spiraling thoughts? How about when things seem to be progressing naturally, and then something triggers you to become anxious or fearful?

These are natural occurrences that many people can relate to. In fact, they’re so natural that as soon as the event or situation occurs, it ends. No harm. No foul. Just a brief moment that seemed to pass all by itself.

However, maybe there have been times when the event didn’t pass all by itself. Maybe this isn’t a rare occurrence for you, but it seems to be the way you operate in life. For you, a significant trigger is not necessary for your thoughts to spiral out of control.

You go from having a general worry to irrational and cognitively distorted thoughts that, no matter what you try, you go completely off the rails. You feel one straw away from a full-blown panic attack or emotional meltdown.

Licensed counseling professionals and mental health providers call this “rumination.” Rumination is a repetitive focus on negative thoughts that can worsen anxiety or depression and lead to an overwhelming sense of dread, fear, helplessness, or hopelessness. It’s not a focus just on one thought or one fear, but all the thoughts and fears that could be related to that subject. Ruminating is the experience of spiraling thoughts.

The best way to visualize spiraling thoughts is as water going down a sink drain. At first, it seems to be flowing down in a controlled manner, but as the pace of the water picks up, a small vortex in the drain appears, and the water begins to swirl faster and faster until nothing is left in the sink.

That is what your thoughts are doing, except instead of the thoughts emptying from your mind, they seem to keep swirling with nowhere to go. This causes you to feel like you’re losing control, are out of your mind, or are completely debilitated. Some of you reading this may even feel like you need a nap to break out of the spiral.

I can relate to how you feel. Even using effective self-reflection skills, rational thinking, and emotional regulation techniques, I too have fallen into the spiral. Throughout my life, I have become much better at managing spiraling thoughts, but I still have times when they can overwhelm me.

Knowing this, I have written down a couple of things that I do that help me stave off spiraling thoughts or stop them from going too far if they start. I hope that these methods might also help you. As always, if the support you seek here is not effective, I recommend consulting a licensed mental health professional or licensed Christian therapist who can offer you direct support to reduce or end the cycle of spiraling thoughts through counseling.

Here is my process:

Deep Breathing

First, I use deep breathing techniques. I find that balancing and regulating my breathing keeps my emotions and physiological expressions more under control. You may know this, but rapid breathing increases the fight, flight, or freeze response. The rapid breathing is getting oxygen to your hands and feet as fast as possible for the confrontation.

However, when there is no real perceived threat, this takes oxygen away from the place it needs to be, which is in your brain. Oxygen is required to think clearly. So, deep breathing is the best method to use in order to successfully get your mind thinking clearly.

When you’re feeling your thoughts begin to spiral, take a moment (about 30-90 seconds) and just breathe. Taking deep breaths in through your nose and breathing out through your mouth should cause you to feel more regulated physiologically and cognitively. The longer you practice deep breathing, the more likely you will be able to engage in rational thinking.

Positive Self-Talk

Secondly, I engage in positive self-talk. Positive self-talk is a process to help rational thoughts stick. I say things like, “I will get through this,” or “This is just a moment, and it will pass.” When my thoughts are focused on a particular subject, I direct my thoughts toward positive outcomes of the subject. As long as the thoughts persist, I focus on my breathing and positive thoughts. As a Christian, I include positive affirmations from the Bible.

My personal favorite is Isaiah 41:10, which says, “Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.” (NLT)

Another of my favorite verses to recite or read is Colossians 3:2, which says, “Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth.” (NLT)

God’s Word

These previous steps are sometimes effective, and at other times, I must go a step further. My step further is an exercise that I derived from another favored passage in the Bible. It comes from the words the Apostle Paul wrote to a church he led and advised in Philippi:

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. – Philippians 4: 6-8, NLT

There are four steps to this exercise, with the last step having eight parts.

• • Memorize these verses
  • Learn to pray verse 6
  • Begin to experience verse 7
  • Make a list of the things verse 8 wants you to focus on

• Write down at least one thing that’s true
• Write down at least one thing that is honorable
• Write down at least one thing that is right
• Write down at least one thing that is pure
• Write down at least one thing that is lovely
• Write down at least one thing that is admirable
• Write down at least one thing that is excellent
• Write down at least one thing that is praiseworthy

You may not be able to complete the whole list the first time. But every time spiraling thoughts start, and you cannot get them under control, return to this exercise and pick up where you left off. Reread verse and pray verse 6. Check in with your body until you can sense peace. Finally, add to or complete the list from verse 8. You can revisit the list any time.

Next Steps

Lastly, you can overcome spiraling thoughts. Even though you may not believe it right now, you are in control of them. Try these exercises. God will not let you down, and your thoughts will come under control. Maybe not the first time, but with dedication and consistency over time, they will.