The Highlighter That Stopped a Panic Attack

A Viral Anxiety Technique and the Surprising Science Behind It

Mar 17, 2025

The other day, I found myself staring at my phone in disbelief. A simple video I'd made about an anxiety management technique had reached over 18 million views on Instagram and 3 million on TikTok. As I scrolled through thousands of comments, my heart felt both heavy and hopeful – heavy knowing how many of us are wrestling with anxiety and panic, yet hopeful because sometimes the simplest tools can create the most profound changes.

I remember the first time I shared this technique in my therapy office. My client's hands were trembling, their breath coming in short gasps – that familiar dance of panic rising. Instead of our usual grounding exercises, I reached for a highlighter on my desk. What happened next still fills me with wonder, even after years of practicing as a trauma therapist.

I first learned about this technique during my training in Brainspotting, a powerful therapeutic approach that emerged from EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) therapy. Dr. David Grand discovered Brainspotting in 2003 while doing EMDR with a client, noticing how specific eye positions seemed to connect deeply with emotional processing. It was one of those beautiful accidents in therapy – like finding an unexpected doorway to healing.

Think of EMDR and Brainspotting as two siblings in the family of eye-movement therapies. EMDR, developed by Dr. Francine Shapiro in the late 1980s, uses rhythmic eye movements to help the brain process stuck memories and emotions. Brainspotting took this insight further, focusing on finding specific eye positions that connect with our emotional brain centers.

The technique that resonated with so many of you builds on these foundations: focus on an object that is about a foot or two away from your face, focus on it intently, then shift your gaze to a point in the distance, and alternate between the two points. While this is a simplified version of therapeutic techniques used in clinical settings, it harnesses the same powerful connection between eye positions and emotional regulation that makes both EMDR and Brainspotting so effective. Beneath this simplicity lies a fascinating web of neuroscience that explains why something so basic can feel so powerful.

The Eyes as Windows to Our Nervous System

Picture your eyes as sophisticated cameras with an intricate connection to your emotional control center. These remarkable organs – each containing over 200 million working parts – are actually extensions of our brain. The retina, the light-sensitive tissue at the back of your eye, is literally brain tissue that ventured outward during development, making it the only part of our brain ever exposed to light.

This isn't just a biological curiosity. Nearly half of our brain dedicates itself to processing visual information, handling about 80% of how we understand our world. When researchers at the Neural Institute of Vision studied this connection, they found our eyes don't just passively record what we see – they actively participate in how we feel.

Here's where it gets interesting. Inside all of us exists a built-in calming system called the oculocardiac reflex (OCR). Think of it as a secret pathway connecting your eyes to your heart through the vagus nerve – your body's natural stress manager.

When I explain this to clients, I often use the metaphor of a dimmer switch. Just as slowly turning down a bright light can change the feeling of an entire room, activating this reflex through intentional eye movements can dial down the intensity of our stress response. Each eye movement sends a gentle ripple of calm through our nervous system.

This isn't just therapeutic theory. Research published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research (Williams et al., 2021) found that specific eye movement patterns can reduce anxiety symptoms by up to 62% in people experiencing acute stress. The study tracked heart rate variability – a key marker of nervous system balance – and found significant improvements after just a few minutes of guided eye movements.

How the 'Highlighter Trick' Works

The technique works through several interwoven mechanisms:

Oculocardiac Reflex Activation: Just as our ancestors' slow, careful eye movements while scanning peaceful surroundings signaled safety to their nervous systems, our intentional eye movements activate this ancient calming reflex.
Vagal Tone Enhancement: Each shift of focus functions like a gentle workout for your vagus nerve, strengthening its ability to maintain calm under pressure.
Pattern Interruption: The focused attention required creates a pause in the spiral of anxious thoughts, giving your nervous system a chance to reset.
Bilateral Stimulation and Brain Integration: The rhythmic back-and-forth movement helps integrate both hemispheres of your brain, a principle that's central to EMDR therapy. In my practice, I often explain this to clients using the metaphor of a bridge – we're helping the logical and emotional parts of our brain talk to each other more effectively. Meanwhile, the focused attention on specific points draws from Brainspotting's insight that certain eye positions can help us access and process emotional material more effectively. It's like finding the right radio frequency – when you hit the right spot, the static clears and things start making sense.

Both therapeutic approaches have shown remarkable results in clinical settings. EMDR is recognized by the World Health Organization as an effective treatment for trauma, while Brainspotting has demonstrated promising outcomes in treating anxiety, trauma, and other emotional concerns. What fascinates me most is how these sophisticated therapeutic tools led to discovering simpler techniques that can help people between or even without therapy sessions.

Through years of clinical practice and my own personal experience, I've found this technique works best when treated like any other skill – it benefits from practice and patience:

Start in calm moments: Like learning to swim in shallow water, practice when you're feeling relatively steady
Watch for early signals: Try using it when you first notice anxiety stirring, before it peaks
Trust your pace: Let your breath naturally find its rhythm as you move your eyes
Be patient: Some people feel relief quickly, others need a few minutes

What moves me most about the response to this technique isn't just its effectiveness, but its accessibility. In a world where mental health support can feel out of reach for many, here's something that requires no special equipment, no prescription, no therapy appointment (though therapy can be invaluable when needed).

The overwhelming response to that video reminds me why I love being a trauma therapist. Sometimes the most powerful tools are the ones that have been within us all along, waiting to be rediscovered. In sharing these techniques, we create ripples of healing that reach far beyond our individual practices.

A Note About Therapy:

While this technique can be a helpful tool for managing anxiety symptoms, it's worth noting that both EMDR and Brainspotting are sophisticated therapeutic approaches that should only be practiced by trained professionals. The technique I've shared is a simplified tool based on similar principles, but it's not a replacement for professional mental health care. If you're struggling with anxiety, panic attacks, or trauma, I encourage you to reach out to a qualified mental health professional who can help you explore whether EMDR, Brainspotting, or other therapeutic approaches might be right for you.

Your Trauma Therapist

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