Stop the Spiral 🌀 When I get dysregulated, my brain stops being a narrator and turns into a prosecutor. It builds a case against me—fast, convincing, and brutal. One thought turns into a whole story: I’m the problem. They’re judging me. This always happens. It’s going to get worse. And the part that’s hard to admit? It feels accurate. That’s the trap. Not just emotion—cognitive distortions wearing the mask of truth: All-or-nothing. Catastrophizing. Mind-reading. Emotional reasoning. Overgeneralizing. Labeling. It’s not just “negative thinking.” It’s a distorted lens that shrinks complexity into something absolute and punishing. When I’m in it, I don’t need better logic. I need interruption. So I don’t argue with every thought. I disrupt the pattern: Pause. (even when I don’t want to) Name the distortion. (“this is mind-reading”) Reality check. (what do I actually know?) Reframe the thought. (not positive—just less extreme) Ground myself. (body first, always) I still spiral. But I don’t follow it all the way down anymore. Because I’ve seen what my mind does when I’m overwhelmed— it collapses nuance into certainty. And certainty is what makes the spiral feel real.