• September 9, 2025

Urgency: Why We Get Stuck in Racing Thoughts

Understanding the Voice of Urgency

“Do something now!” your thoughts shout. Those thoughts can feel overwhelming and out of nowhere. That voice is Urgency.

The Physical and Mental Markers of Urgency

The rush of energy in your chest, the feeling of panic, the racing thoughts - these are markers of urgency.

When Urgency Takes Over Everyday Life

It’s a feeling that can torment us. It might keep you up at night, taking you through disasters. Or maybe it refuses to let you relax, keeping you on guard. If your heart beats faster just thinking about what’s on the schedule tomorrow, then that may be urgency speaking.

Urgency Isn’t Always an Emergency

Urgency is your brain’s safety inspector. Once he notices something is bothering us, he screams at you to fix the problem. And fix it now. You may be in your cozy home, with nothing to do, resting in bed, and still this feeling won’t go away, and your mind can’t quiet. But, feeling urgency does not automatically mean there is an emergency.

How Therapy Helps Identify and Understand Urgency

Identifying this feeling is one of the first things we do in therapy with clients. This is the key to building mindfulness of our body sensations and thoughts.

CBT Tools to Challenge Urgency’s Narrative

Together, we will explore the feeling, practice recognizing it and what it says. This CBT practice can help us see the narrative. Often urgency contains an “all or nothing” concern, creating a false dichotomy. Sometimes, it will catastrophize, meaning it shows the worst-case scenario possible, despite it being unrealistic. Most often, urgency tries to solve a perceived problem at this very moment. Right now.

Building Awareness to Disengage from Urgency

Not many problems can be solved “right now” or “all at once”. By recognizing the impossible narrative of urgency, and the intense physical sensations, we can build awareness.

Practicing Grounding and Mindfulness Techniques

Then, in therapy we will begin to challenge these thoughts, disengaging the urgency. We will work together to take risks where we need to - resisting urgency is scary. Using grounding and mindfulness tools can help to keep us present despite the feeling.

Creating a Healthy Relationship with Urgency

Slowly, one small step at a time, we will begin to create a dialogue with urgency. You will be able to choose to engage with it. You may say “that feeling is necessary now” and allow it to lead. Or you may notice that urgency is not necessary at this moment, and we can allow ourselves to slow down. It's a process that builds our trust in ourselves, and our ability to make choices.