'Let's spiral through every possible scenario so that I'm prepared for when this thing happens.' 

(Text on screen reads: Why do we have unhelpful thoughts when we're stressed or anxious?)

It can take a little time to understand what our warning signs are. So, when we're stressed or anxious, our brain and body starts working like an ecosystem to keep us safe and to protect us from what it deems is a threat or risk. That includes these unhelpful thoughts. So we can start going to these worst case scenarios or these 'what if' examples, thinking that 'let's spiral through every possible scenario so that I'm prepared for when this thing happens. The challenge is that often it doesn't actually happen. The worst case scenario doesn't actually occur. But it's all in the name of protection of trying to keep us safe. 

Sometimes it's happening very automatically. We're sort of on autopilot. But once we can figure out what the warning signs are and we know that we're in the thick of the unhelpful thought, we can intercept and pause. And we can take that pause by either doing something behaviourally. So if we're sat down when the thought comes on, we can
stand up. If we're standing when the thought comes along, we can sit down. We can take a walk around school or the office. We can take ourselves to the bathroom. We can put cold water under our hands or splash it on our face. Something to sort of pause on the thought, intercept, and then either reframe it or practice some somatic skills like breath work to really realign that thought into something more neutral or positive.