When anxiety strikes, the internet can feel like a lifeline — but symptom Googling often leads to more panic, not clarity. It turns minor discomfort into imagined disaster, fuels health anxiety, and disconnects you from your body’s actual signals. This is a list of healthy distractions, grounding tools, creative outlets, sensory resets, and perspective-shifting actions to help you redirect the compulsion to Google your symptoms.
200 Things to Do Instead of Googling Your Symptoms
Mental Redirection
- Write down what you’re afraid of — and what’s actually happening
- Ask: “Have I felt this before and survived it?”
- Journal: “What’s the worst that could happen?” Then counter it
- Read one positive review of something unrelated
- List 5 things that bring you joy
- Do a 5-4-3-2-1 grounding scan
- Repeat: “My brain is lying to protect me”
- Start a gratitude log
- Do a 10-minute breathwork session
- Challenge the thought: “Do I need help or reassurance?”
- Look up “reasons not to Google symptoms”
- Re-read this list
- Count 100 backward by 7s
- Make a “Don’t Google” Pinterest board
- Watch a YouTube video of puppies
- Search: “how to comfort your nervous system”
- Text a friend: “Distract me”
- Tell yourself aloud: “I am safe right now”
- Draw your anxious thought as a cartoon
- Write your worry down and burn it (safely)
Sensory Reset
- Splash cold water on your face
- Smell peppermint oil
- Light a calming candle
- Use a weighted blanket
- Cuddle something soft
- Chew gum or suck on sour candy
- Stretch your arms wide and hold for 30 seconds
- Hold ice cubes in your hand
- Rub lotion on your hands slowly
- Do a “shaking” dance to release tension
- Hum a tune to vibrate your chest
- Gently tap your chest in rhythm (like havening)
- Roll a tennis ball under your foot
- Take a hot shower
- Listen to white noise
Related: How to Break the Anxiety About Anxiety Cycle In 5 Practical Steps?
Engaging Distractions
- Do a crossword puzzle
- Rearrange your bookshelf
- Organize your junk drawer
- Make a playlist for your future self
- Watch a sitcom you’ve seen before
- Try a drawing challenge
- Bake something new
- Make a collage
- Crochet or knit
- Build a Lego scene
- Download a calming app
- Paint your nails
- Revisit your childhood hobby
- Write a letter to your 10-year-old self
- Try adult coloring books
Learn Something New (Not Medical)
- Learn a phrase in a new language
- Watch a documentary on a random topic
- Read a travel blog
- Study how chocolate is made
- Look up forgotten history
- Explore ethical fashion
- Research mythological creatures
- Read a poem and annotate it
- Watch a TED talk
- Start a “Non-Anxious Learning” notebook
Creative Expression
- Write a short story
- Draw what your anxiety would look like if it had a shape
- Make blackout poetry from a magazine page
- Record a voice memo to your future self
- Create a calming playlist and name it something soothing
- Write a haiku about how you feel right now
- Sculpt something from air-dry clay
- Make a collage of calming images from old magazines
- Write lyrics for your own calming song
- Create a “visual gratitude” board using photos
- Paint a color gradient from your current emotion to peace
- Start a comic strip of your thoughts and how they shift
- Make up a calming bedtime story
- Write a one-page letter to your body
- Sketch your safe place
- Design a tattoo that represents strength
- Write a letter to anxiety itself
- Make a zine about not Googling your symptoms
- Start a tiny notebook of one-line affirmations
- Write a poem with only five words per line
Related: Best 10 Intrusive Thoughts Books
Outdoor and Nature Activities
- Sit outside and name every sound you hear
- Take a barefoot walk in the grass
- Touch the bark of a tree and describe its texture
- Water your plants with full attention
- Pick up five stones and assign each one a peaceful word
- Lie on the ground and look up at the sky
- Walk around your block and notice three types of leaves
- Plant a seed and focus on nurturing it
- Visit a quiet nature trail
- Watch clouds drift and name their shapes
- Photograph five tiny details in nature
- Lay in the sun for five minutes
- Draw in dirt or sand with your finger
- Collect leaves and arrange them in a pattern
- Make a “found objects” nature mandala
- Close your eyes and listen to the wind
- Find something green and appreciate its shape
- Observe ants or insects with full focus
- Do grounding barefoot walking
- Start a nature journal with today’s weather and mood
Connection & Relationships
- Call someone you trust and ask how they’re doing
- Write a thank-you message to someone who helped you in the past
- Send a funny meme to a friend
- Write a letter to someone you miss but don’t talk to anymore
- Give someone a sincere compliment today
- Join an online support group that feels safe
- Leave a kind comment on a post that made you smile
- Make a list of the people who’ve supported you through hard times
- Create a shared playlist with someone you love
- Write down your favorite memory with a friend
- Record a voice message to someone you care about
- Offer to help someone with something small
- Ask someone what they’re looking forward to
- Tell someone what you appreciate about them
- Reach out to someone you haven’t talked to in a while
- Send a postcard, even if it’s just for fun
- Start a private message thread with no pressure to reply
- Write a forgiveness letter, even if it’s never sent
- Share a quote that has helped you cope
- Text a friend: “Distract me with something random”
Related: How to Master the ACT Skill of Cognitive Defusion & Stop Overthinking?
Body Movement
- Stretch your arms slowly overhead and hold for a few seconds
- Do a 3-minute freestyle dance in your room
- Walk up and down the stairs mindfully
- Follow a beginner yoga video on YouTube
- Swing your arms side to side while standing
- Do neck rolls and shoulder circles
- Go for a slow walk and notice your breath
- Balance on one foot, then switch
- Do ten wall push-ups
- Lie on the floor and stretch your legs upward
- Rotate your ankles and wrists
- Try five gentle squats
- Do a “shake it out” full-body wiggle
- March in place for one minute
- Stand in mountain pose and feel your feet on the floor
- Follow a tai chi breathing movement
- Practice walking meditation around your home
- Roll a tennis ball under each foot
- Stretch your back by folding forward slowly
- End with a long inhale and exhale while reaching to the sky
Related: Am I Having A Panic Attack Quiz
Soothing Rituals
- Make a cup of herbal tea and sip it slowly
- Light incense and breathe deeply while watching the smoke curl
- Rub essential oil into your wrists or neck
- Wrap yourself in a blanket and lie still for a few minutes
- Soak your feet in warm water with Epsom salt
- Brush your hair slowly and gently
- Light a candle and sit quietly while watching the flame
- Put on your softest, coziest clothes
- Massage your hands using lotion or oil
- Set a timer for ten minutes and rest without your phone
- Apply a face mask while listening to gentle music
- Use a warm compress on your shoulders or abdomen
- Sit by a window and just watch the outside world
- Put on socks straight from the dryer
- Try dry brushing before a shower
- Spray your favorite room scent or essential mist
- Write one thing you’re releasing and then crumple it up
- Rock back and forth while sitting to calm your nervous system
- Make a bedtime wind-down checklist
- Dim the lights and play ambient sounds before bed
Organization & Decluttering
- Tidy up one drawer — just one
- Delete three apps you never use
- Recycle old receipts or junk mail
- Rearrange one shelf in a calming way
- Clear off the top of one surface
- Unsubscribe from five promotional emails
- Wipe down your bathroom mirror
- Toss expired food from the fridge
- Fold a pile of laundry with care
- Organize your favorite calming tools into a basket
- Declutter your phone home screen
- Clean your glasses or phone screen
- Make your bed slowly and mindfully
- Sort through your old notebooks or journals
- Declutter your desktop or downloads folder
- Put away five things that are out of place
- Clear your nightstand
- Refill your water bottle and clean it
- Organize your coping tools in one space
- Rearrange your room slightly to feel refreshed
Related: 9 Silent Panic Attacks Symptoms
Digital Detox & Mindfulness
- Turn your phone on airplane mode for 15 minutes
- Close all your browser tabs
- Delete your search history for peace of mind
- Move distracting apps off your home screen
- Put your phone in another room and breathe
- Turn your screen to grayscale
- Set a 5-minute timer and do absolutely nothing
- Light a candle and sit in silence for two minutes
- Walk slowly without music or podcast
- Close your eyes and listen to the room sounds
- Gaze at one object and describe it in detail
- Do one thing today with complete attention
- Try five minutes of mindful eating
- Watch the sun rise or set without recording it
- Observe the way shadows shift on the wall
- Hold a warm mug and feel its shape and weight
- Take three conscious breaths before touching your phone
- Sit and watch your thoughts like clouds
- Read a physical book
- Journal: “What do I notice when I disconnect?
Related: Hypochondria: How to Deal with Health Anxiety?
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