Distraction Generator: An Interactive Tool for Healthy Distraction | PsychKit.org

The Distraction Generator

An Interactive ACCEPTS Tool for Coping with a Crisis

Find a Healthy Distraction

Choose a category or get a random idea to give your mind a break from painful emotions.

Click the button to get an idea

What Are Healthy Distraction Techniques?

When you’re dealing with an intensely painful emotion, sometimes the best thing you can do in the moment is to give your mind a temporary break. Healthy distraction techniques are short-term coping skills designed to pull your attention away from overwhelming feelings or urges until they become less intense.

This interactive tool is based on the ACCEPTS skill from Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), a powerful method for surviving a crisis without making it worse. It acts as your personal idea generator for finding a safe and constructive way to distract yourself.

What Does ACCEPTS Stand For?

ACCEPTS is an acronym that gives you seven different categories of distraction to choose from:

Activities: Doing something that requires focus (e.g., a puzzle, a game, exercise).
Contributing: Shifting focus to others (e.g., doing a small favor, offering help).
Comparisons: Putting your situation in perspective by comparing it to a time you felt better.
Emotions: Creating a different emotion by watching a funny movie or listening to uplifting music.
Pushing Away: Temporarily blocking out the situation from your mind.
Thoughts: Forcing your mind to think about something else (e.g., counting, reciting lyrics).
Sensations: Using intense physical sensations to distract from emotional pain (e.g., holding ice, a cold shower).

When Should I Use Distraction?

Distraction is a short-term crisis survival skill. It’s not meant to be a long-term solution or a way to avoid your problems forever. Use these techniques when:

An emotion is so intense that you can’t think clearly.
You have a strong urge to do something impulsive or destructive.
You are in a situation you cannot immediately change, and you need to get through it.
You need to give yourself a brief “time out” from your pain to regain your composure.

The Science Behind It: Why Distraction Works

Using healthy distraction techniques is an effective short-term strategy because of how your brain processes attention.

Limited Attentional Resources: Your brain can only consciously focus on a limited number of things at once. When you are consumed by a powerful emotion, it is taking up most of your attentional “bandwidth.” By deliberately engaging in an activity that requires focus (like counting backwards or playing a game), you are forcing your brain to reallocate some of that bandwidth away from the emotion.
Pattern Interrupt: Intense emotional states often involve a cycle of rumination, where the same painful thoughts repeat over and over. A novel or engaging distraction acts as a “pattern interrupt,” breaking that cycle and giving your mind a chance to reset.
Emotional De-escalation: Emotions, like waves, have a natural peak and will eventually subside. Distraction gives you something to hold onto while the wave passes, preventing you from acting impulsively at its peak intensity.

Important Safety Disclaimer & When to Seek Help

This tool is for educational and skill-building purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or therapy.

Distraction is a coping skill, not a cure. While it is a valuable tool for crisis moments, it’s important to also develop skills for processing and managing emotions over the long term. Relying solely on distraction can become a form of avoidance.

If you find that you are constantly in a state of crisis or that your emotions feel unmanageable most of the time, it is a sign of strength to seek support from a qualified mental health professional. If you are having urges related to self-harm or harming others, please call your local emergency number immediately.