Have you ever received 10 compliments and 1 insult, but you could only think about the insult?
This is the Sticky Attention problem. Negative information is “sticky.” Evolutionary speaking, a tiger in the bushes is more important than a berry on the tree. So, our brains are hardwired to latch onto threats and hold on tight.
For anxious people, this stickiness is supercharged. Once you see something worrying (a weird email, a frowning face), your attention gets trapped. You can’t “change the channel.”
Threat Blinkers is a gym for your “channel-changing” muscles.
The Science: Attentional Disengagement
Psychologists call this skill Attentional Disengagement. It is the ability to unlock your focus from one thing and move it to another.
Research shows that people with high anxiety have a slower “disengagement time” when looking at negative images. It takes them milliseconds longer to look away from an angry face than a neutral one. Those milliseconds add up to a lifetime of rumination.
This game uses a “flanker task” paradigm. It flashes distracting threats on the side of your vision, but forces you to respond only to the neutral target in the center. It rewards you for ignoring the bad stuff.
The Game: Threat Blinkers
- The Goal: A central arrow points Left or Right. You must press the corresponding arrow key.
- The Distraction: Flashing on the sides are “Threat Words” (e.g., FAILURE, DEATH, SHAME) or “Threat Faces.”
- The Challenge: If you let your eyes wander to the threat, you will miss the target or react too slowly. You must keep your “mental blinkers” on.
👉 Play the Game: Threat Blinkers
Actionable Advice
- Notice the Pull: As you play, feel the magnetic pull of the threat words. Notice how your eyes want to look. That physical sensation is what you are fighting against.
- The “Stop” Command: In daily life, when you catch yourself staring at a negative news headline or re-reading a nasty text, imagine the game. Visualize putting your blinkers on and physically turn your head away.
Safety & Disclaimer
- This tool is for cognitive training.
- Trigger Warning: This game uses words and images that can be mildly distressing (standard anxiety triggers). If you find it overwhelming rather than helpful, stop immediately.