by Yawen Zheng
Most of us are familiar with the scenario: when we find ourselves in a stressful or painful situation, we sometimes turn to distractions—scrolling, cleaning, binge-watching—to take our mind off it. Eventually we circle back, whether driven by real-world consequences (e.g., losing a job) or intangible ones (e.g., difficulty maintaining routines and self-discipline). Looking back, it’s worth asking: did these distractions actually help us cope? or did they quietly drain our willpower? making it harder to face what we were avoiding.
But what if the stress deepens into something far more unbearable, such as despair and feeling trapped (entrapment), where the consequences are a matter of life and death? In a suicidal crisis, distraction can be a lifeline, but one with both benefits and risks. Before asking whether distraction “works” in such moments, we need to understand why people turn to it, and what it feels like from their own perspective.
Distraction as a Coping Strategy
Two common coping strategies in the psychology literature are engagement and disengagement coping. Distraction, an emotion regulation strategy, falls into the latter category. It involves disengaging from negative events, thoughts, or emotions, and redirecting attention toward low-cognitive-load activities that preoccupy the mind. For example, when you are upset about something that has happened, you may step away and play a musical instrument, instead of continuing to be absorbed by the sadness.
The effectiveness of distraction has been debated among psychologists for decades. What is widely accepted is that distraction is considered as maladaptive in the long term, as it may delay or prevent addressing the root cause, even though it can reduce negative emotions in the moment. Compared to active engagement, such as journaling to process and manage sadness, which can be emotionally draining, distraction requires fewer cognitive resources to provide quick relief.
The Distraction Myth: When Does It Actually Help?
While the debate continues over whether distraction is an adaptive emotion regulation strategy, the literature offers some insights into the critical elements that may influence its outcomes. Distraction may be considered beneficial (e.g., better psychological wellbeing) in the following contexts:
- When the stressor is chronic or too difficult to cope with. This applies when the intensity of distress exceeds the individual’s current capability for active engagement with coping.
- When the intention is to pause to consider better ways of coping, not to avoid facing reality. This involves a self-aware, intentional act of shifting attention away from a stressor for a temporary break, in order to restore mental resources for later coping effort.
- When positive distraction is used. This requires shifting attention toward activities that generate positive emotions
Distracting From Suicidal Pain: What Lived Experience Tells Us
Research shows that distraction and positive activity-based coping strategies, such as doing something good for oneself, are used in daily routines by individuals with suicidal thoughts. Notably, these strategies are not only perceived as effective but can actually lower the intensity of these thoughts.
In a recent interview study on the experiential dynamics of suicidal thoughts and feelings (manuscript in preparation), we found that distraction was mentioned by most participants as a way to cope with suicidal distress. It also shaped people’s perceptions of fluctuations in suicidal thoughts. Key insights from a first-person perspective on distraction can be summarised below.
Positive influence:
- Appearing to shorten or interrupt suicidal episodes
- Offering immediate coping for emotional distress
- Restoring mental energy and resilience
Participants also identified types of distraction that tended to work for them: high-engagement, enjoyable, and non-work-related activities. Quantity also mattered when distress was overwhelming, with multiple distractions helping them to keep going. That said, the “dark side” of distraction is also hard to overlook.
Negative influence:
- Distress resurfacing or backfiring
- Failing to address underlying issues
- Fuelling hopelessness when ineffective
Reflection
Suicidal thoughts naturally fluctuate, yet distraction may complicate this picture by creating an illusion of this ebb and flow. For some, apparent “dips” in intensity may reflect the temporary respite of distraction rather than genuine change in the underlying experience. Overall, distraction can help “alleviate” suicidal distress in the moment, but it is more about getting through the crisis than healing it. If the underlying stressor remains unaddressed, distraction may amplify distress and leave individuals feeling increasingly stuck and disempowered. Despite this, it remains crucial in suicidal crises, offering a momentary shield in the midst of a storm that enables survival and creates space for support.
While the literature distinguishes distraction from avoidance based on intention to cope, this line may blur in real life. Distraction and avoidance may coexist, and their mechanisms have yet to be clearly delineated. Our transcripts could not reliably tease them apart. This raises a practically important question: can individuals in suicidal distress distinguish between distracting to recharge and simply avoiding the pain? If not, we may misunderstand what distraction can offer and miss chances to guide more intentional use, from surviving the moment to building capacity for later coping.
What Can We Learn?
Up to this point, it is clear that distraction is a nuanced coping strategy not a black-or-white construct. Based on lived experience and the published literature, several check-in points may help exert their positive influences and minimise the risk of backfiring when facing suicidal distress:
- Use distraction strategically to restore resources and agency.
- Ensure distraction (preferably positive activities) does not become avoidance.
- Intention matters more than the activity itself.
- Know when to turn away and when to turn back.
- Be self-compassionate: use distraction without guilt, but know its limits.
Ending
Distraction is a double-edged sword, especially when the distress one seeks to escape is life-threatening. It can offer a temporary shield from unbearable feelings and serve as a safety net when living feels unmanageable. Whether it helps depends on a number of things including how it is used. When staying alive is the priority, the strategies that help individuals get through the very moment matter, not necessarily as a resolution, but to provide some breathing space that allows support and intervention to reach them.
Suicidal Behaviour Research Laboratory 