A-Z list making: a distraction technique for spiraling or self-soothing

I came across this tool a few years ago. I read that during a mental health crisis you can distract yourself from negative thoughts by listing street names around where you live, one for every letter of the alphabet. When I did it, I felt much better by the letter H.

After that day, I kept coming back to this technique. I've found it's not only helpful during a mental health crisis, but also just during times of heightened anxiety, stress, or boredom. It seems to be very effective at calming nerves.

So I thought I would share this with you.

You start by picking a theme or topic. Let's say I pick 'things to do in the fall'. I would write down every letter of the alphabet, then start coming up with a word or phrase for each letter. It might look like this...

Apple picking

Biking

Carving pumpkins

Decorating for Halloween

Eating Halloween candy

F

G

H

I

etc...

If this sort of approach requires a bit more creativity than you have, you can also pick something similar to street names. If you use street names, country names, or nearby cities, you could look at a map for help if you get stuck.

Here are a few different ideas for themes

• names of people
• restaurants
• countries
• animals
• things you like to do
• things related to [insert favorite tv show / book series / video game]
• foods
• colors
• cities
• sports teams

I imagine it would work really well for a category you're familiar with. That way you aren't taking too long to come up with a word, and the distraction element keeps working. However, you could also do a slightly harder theme if you want to challenge yourself. It might feel more rewarding if it takes longer to complete the list.

I don't actually know why this works. But if I had to guess why, I'd say it activates the part of your brain used for executive function. When you're spiraling, the emotional part of your brain is firing, and perhaps familiar neural networks work together to keep you “stuck” in thought loops. I suspect a cognitive exercise like this engages a different part of your brain.

If you like to journal when you’re stressed, you can fill up a page with the letters of the alphabet. I like to put A-M in one column and N-Z in another column. But you can also do this in your head.

When I get to the end of the alphabet I’ll be more forgiving with my word choices. I might use “eXercise” and “Zzzzz” at the end of my ABC’s of self-care. As long as it’s helping to self-soothe or distract, it really doesn’t matter how you do it.