Spiral Stopper

Emergency intervention for spirals, freezes, and crashes

Three-mode crisis tool for when your brain goes sideways. Spiraling gets you grounded with reality checks and a distortion-busting anchor statement. Frozen gets you unstuck with one micro-action at a time and explicit permission to stop. Crashed gets you a severity-matched recovery protocol with basics checklists and staged instructions. All three log episodes and unlock pattern analysis after 3+ entries.

Overview

SpiralStopper is an in-the-moment intervention tool — not a therapy replacement, but a structured first responder for the three most common mental crisis states. Spiraling uses cognitive distortion identification and evidence-based reality checks. Frozen delivers one micro-action at a time with no plans, no decisions, and explicit permission to stop after any step. Crashed matches a recovery protocol to your severity level and crash type, with staged instructions so you only have to do the absolute minimum. All three modes log episodes persistently and unlock pattern analysis after 3+ entries, helping you spot your triggers and build a personal intervention toolkit over time.

How to use it

1. Choose your current state: Spiraling (racing thoughts), Frozen (can't move or start), or Crashed (completely spent)
2. Spiraling: dump your thoughts unfiltered, optionally add your trigger and physical symptoms, rate intensity 1-5, then hit Stop the Spiral
3. Frozen: optionally say what you're stuck on, indicate if you can physically get up, then tap 'Give me one thing' — complete it, tap Done, get the next one
4. Crashed: select what happened (exhaustion, emotional overload, burnout, overwhelm collapse, sensory overload), set severity, and get a staged recovery protocol
5. After any mode, do the optional debrief — 3 taps that update your episode log and improve future interventions
6. After 3+ episodes, tap the history counter to run pattern analysis and see your personal toolkit

Example

Scenario: It's 11pm. You made an error at work, your thoughts are spiraling into 'I'm going to get fired and everyone thinks I'm incompetent', your chest is tight, and you can't stop.

What you do: Select Spiraling. Dump everything: 'I messed up the report, my boss is going to notice, I'll get fired, I've always been bad at this...' Add trigger: 'work mistake'. Physical: 'tight chest, can't stop thinking'. Intensity: 4/5.

Result: Immediate action: box breathing, right now, why explained. Distortion identified: catastrophizing + mind reading. Reality checks for each anxious thought. Grounding exercise with timed steps. Compassionate anchor: a single statement that reframes the whole spiral. Pattern note if you've been here before. After-spiral suggestion for what to do next.

Tips

• Don't filter your thoughts in Spiral mode — the messier and more catastrophic, the better the reality checks
• In Frozen mode, each step is designed to be completable even if you're barely functional — trust the size of the action
• The debrief takes 30 seconds and dramatically improves pattern analysis — do it even if you feel better
• Pattern analysis after 3+ episodes is where this tool gets genuinely useful — your personal toolkit is built from your actual history
• Crashed mode has a 'what can you do right now?' field — be honest, even if the answer is 'nothing'

Common pitfalls

• This is a first-responder tool, not a replacement for professional support — if crises are frequent, please talk to someone
• Don't skip the Frozen mode steps to 'do more' — one thing at a time is the entire point
• The episode log caps at 6 — if you want longer pattern history, use it consistently and run analysis before the log rolls over