Her patients are gathered for a group therapy session. They\u2019re here to learn mindfulness techniques, stress mitigation and coping strategies for anxiety.<\/p>\n
When Dr. Ayanna Abrams, Psy.D., founder of Ascension Behavioral Health,<\/a> starts handing out candy, they\u2019ll soon realize certain coping tools are tastier than others. <\/p>\n The latest social media<\/a> craze<\/a> is encouraging people to turn to sour candy when they\u2019re feeling anxious. According to experts, the suggestion has merit. In fact, some have long been using it in their practices. <\/p>\n \u201cWhen I was leading dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) groups and I\u2019m working with individual clients and we\u2019re doing some DBT, I usually would use mints,\u201d Abrams tells TODAY.com. \u201cI was using mints, I was using chocolates and then sometimes I would use sour candy.\u201d<\/p>\n In a therapeutic context, the candy serves as less of a treat and more of a \u201chealthy distraction,\u201d Abrams explains. While it\u2019s not a treatment for anxiety, she considers strong-flavored candy, which forces the mind to abandon stressful thoughts and instead focus on its sharp taste, a short-term tool to be used as part of the range of clinically backed anxiety treatments. <\/p>\n Does Eating Sour Candy Help With Anxiety?<\/p>\n It can, yes. <\/p>\n \u201cAnxiety often focuses on the future and may involve unhelpful thoughts such as those that jump to conclusions or assume worst-case scenarios,\u201d Jacqueline Sperling, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist, assistant professor in psychology at Harvard Medical School and the co-founder and co-program director of the McLean Anxiety Mastery Program, tells TODAY.com. <\/p>\n \u201cPracticing mindfulness, which involves paying attention to the present moment on purpose, and non-judgmentally, can help redirect one\u2019s focus to the present,\u201d she adds. That\u2019s precisely what sour candy can do. <\/p>\n Sour candy is a resource used in grounding techniques that encourage us to concentrate on the here and now, the experts explain. Sour candy demands the attention of the senses, which serves to bring the mind to the present instead of ruminating on an uncertain future. \u201c(Candy) can be something to then redirect your focus,\u201d adds Sperling, author of \u201cFind Your Fierce: How to Put Social Anxiety in Its Place<\/a>.\u201d <\/p>\n How Do You Eat Sour Candy To Soothe Anxiety?<\/p>\n Grounding starts before you\u2019ve even eaten the candy, Abrams says. Turn your focus to the physiological sensations the candy brings about before you\u2019ve opened the wrapper. She encourages her patients to notice the sensation in the back of their throat as they anticipate eating the candy, notice the rush of a saliva in their mouths, tune in to the crackle of the wrapper, relish in the nostalgia of first eating this candy as a child. <\/p>\n Once it\u2019s time to eat it, letting the candy dissolve is key. \u201cYou place the candy on your tongue, close your mouth and use your senses to notice the taste, texture and shape of the candy over time,\u201d Sperling explains. <\/p>\n Though your mind might wander, she says, gently bring your attention back to the candy and the sensations it brings up.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter the candy has dissolved fully, reassess how strong the (anxious) urges are and if you\u2019re more able and willing to resist acting on them,\u201d Sperling says. <\/p>\n \u201cAlso notice the intensity of the emotion,\u201d she adds. She compares emotions to an ocean wave. \u201cThe aim is to ride the emotion and urge waves to shore as no one can experience a feeling forever,\u201d Sperling explains. Once the candy is gone and your emotions felt, for better or worse, you\u2019ll have come out on the other side. <\/p>\n Which Anxiety Treatments Have Been Proven To Be Effective?<\/p>\n \u201cTypically, when we\u2019re thinking about treatment for anxiety, we\u2019re thinking about something that is a bit more transformative and maybe kind of longer term (than candy),\u201d Abrams explains. <\/p>\n For anyone experiencing anxiety, Abrams recommends psychotherapy, whether that\u2019s cognitive behavioral therapy, dialectical behavioral therapy or interpersonal therapy. \u201cThose are all kind of the gold standard,\u201d she says. To that list, Sperling adds exposure and response prevention therapy, and acceptance and commitment therapy. Medication is also an evidence-based treatment and, combined with behavioral treatment, can result in enhanced outcomes, Sperling adds.<\/p>\n Sour candy, mints, chocolates and gummy candies are all tools that can be used in mindfulness and grounding, two research-backed therapeutic techniques. Mindfulness is a \u201cpractice of presence,\u201d says Abrams. \u201cIt\u2019s really about being present with what is and not trying to change things.\u201d Grounding, she says, is a form of mindfulness that calls on us to focus on the present as a healthy distraction from the difficult thoughts we might be having. \u201cYour agency is in the present,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n