How Does Cold Water Stop an Emotional Spiral?

When people are highly emotionally dysregulated, Spencer Greenberg says grounding outside the body helps. Look at three different things outside the body, notice three things that can be heard, then notice three things in the body, and switch between them. Chaos is going on in the mind, and getting out of the mind is what temporarily feels better. Chris Williamson puts the same sequence as a focus outside the body, a focus on the body, and a focus inside the body.

When the grounding does not work, a stronger shock can. Not electricity. A brief splash of super cold water can suddenly shock a person out of an emotional disruption. Chris Williamson asks whether the splash sits next to the mammalian dive reflex. Spencer Greenberg says the splash may be related, because the reflex triggers in cold water and, as far as Spencer Greenberg understands it, lowers respiratory rate.

The cold-water technique was developed, as far as Spencer Greenberg understands it, for people with borderline personality disorder, who become emotionally dysregulated easily. A conversation cannot land while a person is in such a dysregulated state, so people are taught to splash themselves and come out of the state on their own. Chris Williamson jokes about throwing a bucket. Spencer Greenberg says a thrown bucket would probably make them more upset.