Do THIS When You Can't Stop Spiraling: Top Neuroscientist Explains

The Liz Moody Podcast

Liz Moody

Self-improvement, Education, Mental Health, Health & Fitness

4.9 • 3.2K Ratings

🗓️ 11 March 2026

⏱️ 109 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Why does that voice in your head wake you up at 3:00 AM telling you that everything’s terrible? Why do we get stuck overthinking and feel anxious, angry, guilty, shameful, or even envious? There actually is a productive reason. I dug into the research and that voice and negative emotion might actually be good for us, if we use them correctly. I invited the world’s leading expert on controlling your thoughts and emotions, Dr. Ethan Kross, to give us tools we can use today to feel better. 🎧 What you’ll learn: • Why your inner critic exists • How to know whether you’re having a healthy negative emotion or destructive thoughts • A tool Navy SEALs use to approach a problem • The #1 most effective tool for managing anxiety during COVID • Why venting can backfire & the two-step conversation to do instead • A quick trick to shift your emotional state when you’re spiraling • Why completely eliminating negative emotions would be dangerous • What to do when your brain wakes you at 3 AM catastrophizing If you liked this episode, check out this one: The Seven-Minute Secret To Happiness That No One Is Talking About With Dr. Dacher Keltner For more from Dr. Ethan Kross: • Books: https://www.ethankross.com/books • Instagram: @ethankross • Website: www.ethankross.com Ready to uplevel every part of your life? Order Liz’s book 100 Ways to Change Your Life: The Science of Leveling Up Health, Happiness, Relationships & Success now! Connect with Liz on Instagram @lizmoody or online at www.lizmoody.com. Subscribe to the substack by visiting https://lizmoody.substack.com/welcome.Buy our cute sweatshirts, conversation cards, and more at https://shop.lizmoody.com/. Use our discount codes from our highly vetted and tested brand partners by visiting https://www.lizmoody.com/codes. To join The Liz Moody Podcast Club Facebook group, go to www.facebook.com/groups/thelizmoodypodcast. This episode is brought to you completely free thanks to the following podcast sponsors: • Puori: visit Puori.com/LizMoody and use code LIZMOODY at checkout for a discount and special offer. • Our Place: head to FromOurPlace.com/LizMoody and use code LIZMOODY for 10% off sitewide. • LMNT: head to DrinkLMNT.com/Liz to get a FREE 8-count sample pack with any order. • AG1: visit DrinkAG1.com/LizMoody and get a FREE AG1 Flavor Sampler + bottle of Vitamin D3+K2 in your AG1 Welcome Kit with your first AG1 subscription order (only while supplies last). The Liz Moody Podcast cover art by Zack. The Liz Moody Podcast music by Alex Ruimy. Formerly the Healthier Together Podcast. This podcast and website represents the opinions of Liz Moody and her guests to the show. The content here should not be taken as medical advice. The content here is for information purposes only, and because each person is so unique, please consult your healthcare professional for any medical questions. The Liz Moody Podcast Episode 412. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Have you ever wondered why the voice in your head is so freaking mean? Like, why does it wake you up at
0:04.8	3 a.m. telling you that everything in your life is terrible. Is that adaptive somehow? Why does it
0:09.9	tell you that you are not good enough? Why do you get stuck in cycles of endless mental chatter and
0:15.5	stuck in shitty feeling emotional states like anxiety and anger and guilt and shame and envy.
0:21.6	It turns out there is actually a reason I dug into the research and actually that voice
0:27.2	and those negative emotions might be good for us if we use them correctly.
0:32.4	And we have a lot more control over that voice and over those emotions than we might think. So I invited on the person
0:39.0	leading all of that research, Dr. Ethan Cross. He's the director of the emotion and self-control
0:44.1	lab at the University of Michigan, and he's the mega bestselling author of the book's chatter and
0:49.0	shift. Welcome to the Liz Moody podcast. I'm Liz. I'm a long-time journalist. I love diving
0:54.1	into the science, probing into your toughest problems podcast. I'm Liz. I'm a long-time journalist. I love diving into the science,
0:55.4	probing into your toughest problems, and I'm covering real, actionable answers so that you can feel
1:01.1	as good as possible every single day. Ethan, welcome to the podcast. Well, it's a delight to be here
1:07.0	with you, Liz. My number one question is, why do I believe every bad thing anybody has
1:11.3	ever said about me and none of the good things stick? So there's actually a good reason for that.
1:15.9	There's this one scientific paper that I absolutely love. And the title is, bad is stronger than good.
1:23.6	And what it speaks to is this widespread phenomenon that we are more sensitive to the negative things in life than the positive things. Now, there's a really good reason why we think that is. The bad stuff is going to, you know, take us out. It's going to kill us. I didn't want to go there right away. The good stuff might feel good, but it doesn't have the same survival implications.
1:46.0	One of the only Nobel Prizes awarded for psychological research really focuses on this phenomenon.
1:53.4	If you've ever heard of the idea of loss aversion, we're more sensitive to losses than we are to gains.
2:00.3	If we experience something negative, it looms
2:03.9	much larger than the positive things in life. And I think just recognizing that can be really
2:10.2	empowering for people because it can serve as a conscious reminder, oh, wait a second,
	...

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