Writing simple words couldn’t possibly stop a panic attack cold…. or does it?

Why “Same Letter Lists” Calm an Anxious Mind: The Science Behind the Trick

Anxiety loves to hijack your brain. It floods your body with adrenaline, tightens your chest, speeds up your heart, and traps your mind in a loop of what ifs. In these moments, it can feel impossible to “just calm down.” But here’s something surprising: one of the simplest ways to cut through that storm is to play a quick mental game — writing a list of words that all start with the same letter.

It sounds almost too easy, but there’s hard science behind why it works.

1. It redirects your brain’s “spotlight”

When you’re anxious, your brain’s attention is locked on perceived threats, real or imagined. This is driven by the amygdala, the part of your brain responsible for detecting danger. By forcing yourself to search for words that start with “B” or “S,” you recruit your prefrontal cortex — the logic and planning center of your brain.

Think of your brain like a stage: the amygdala wants to keep the spotlight on fear, but this simple exercise yanks the spotlight onto a harmless, goal-oriented task.

2. It hijacks your working memory

Your working memory is the mental “scratchpad” you use to hold and manipulate information. Anxiety tries to fill it with racing thoughts. The word-list task competes for that same space — and your brain can’t fully hold onto anxious rumination and actively search for words at the same time.

In psychology, this is called cognitive load theory: increase the load with something non-threatening, and the anxious chatter gets pushed out.

3. It stimulates the language network

Searching for words lights up your brain’s language centers — mainly Broca’s area and Wernicke’s area. This activity shifts neural activity away from your limbic system (emotional brain) toward your cortical system (thinking brain), which helps regulate emotional intensity.

You’re not just distracting yourself — you’re actually changing where in your brain the action is happening.

4. It creates a “flow-like” state

As you get into the rhythm — “cat, candle, comfort, courage…” — you begin to experience a low-level flow state, where your focus is entirely on the task at hand. Flow states are associated with reduced cortisol (the stress hormone) and increased dopamine (the reward chemical), creating a subtle physiological shift toward calm.

5. It recruits the vagus nerve

If you speak the words out loud, you get an extra bonus: activating the vagus nerve through gentle vocalization. The vagus nerve is a key player in your parasympathetic nervous system — the “rest and digest” response. This helps slow your heart rate, ease muscle tension, and signal to your body: We are safe now.

Why it works so quickly!

The beauty of this technique is that it engages multiple anxiety-busting mechanisms at once: cognitive distraction, language processing, and parasympathetic activation. You’re not trying to suppress your anxiety directly (which rarely works). Instead, you’re outmaneuvering it by changing the mental and physiological playing field.

Try it right now!

Grab a piece of paper or open your phone’s notes app. Pick a letter — let’s say “M.”

Write as many “M” words as you can in 60 seconds.

Notice how by the time you’ve gotten to “mango, magic, memory, midnight,” your shoulders may feel looser and your breathing slower.

You didn’t talk yourself out of anxiety — you redirected it.

Bottom line:

Anxiety thrives when it controls the conversation in your head. Writing a list of words that start with the same letter gives your brain a different conversation — one it can win.

- Adam Scott

Original Publish: 08/13/2025