Accidental exposure to the Ronnie McNutt Facebook Live clip can still happen through feeds and private shares in 2026, and the immediate reaction may include a pounding heart, nausea, intrusive images or a floating, disconnected feeling. Grounding techniques are not a cure for that distress, but they are quick tools that can interrupt the spiral and return your attention to the room you are in.
Why grounding helps after graphic content
Grounding techniques are a set of simple strategies that help calm anxiety by focusing on the here and now. Cleveland Clinic functional medicine specialist Melissa Young, MD, describes them as “a form of distraction from those difficult emotions.” “They help bring us back into the present moment,” she explains. The clinic lists grounding as useful for depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, stress, negative self-talk, sensory overload, dissociation, and rumination or overthinking. After seeing a suicide video, your fight-or-flight response may treat the clip as an active threat even when you are physically safe, and grounding is one way to tell the brain that the threat has passed.
Mental grounding exercises
Mental grounding is mostly based in imagery and can be done without leaving your chair. Dr. Young suggests thinking of a place, real or imaginary, that feels safe and calm, then bringing in all the senses of that space. If you love the beach, notice the feeling of the hot sun on your face or body, the sound of waves lapping on the shore, and how the sand feels under your feet. “If you’re imagining yourself in your favorite place, you will have less production of those stress hormones,” she says. A simpler exercise is to silently count to 10 or recite the alphabet, and if you are still tense, try it again backward.
Physical grounding and earthing
Grounding and earthing are sometimes used interchangeably, but psychologist Susan Albers, PsyD, separates them. She uses “grounding” as an umbrella term for psychological techniques that help you refocus on the present moment and distract from anxious feelings and intrusive thoughts, while earthing refers to direct skin contact with the Earth’s surface. Walking barefoot on grass, sand or mud, or lying on the ground, are commonly promoted earthing activities. The research is preliminary and mostly small. A small 2019 study in 16 massage therapists found that after one week of earthing therapy and at a follow-up, participants reported lower levels of pain, stress, depression and fatigue. An older 2018 controlled trial with 16 massage therapists showed a general trend of stress reduction after four weeks of working and sleeping while grounded. Both studies had significant limitations, including small sample sizes and reliance on self-reports. Earthing should be a complement to evidence-based care, not a replacement.
A low-emotion structured distraction
Not every grounding tool has to be a formal exercise. When intrusive images keep replaying, a visual task with predictable structure can shift attention without asking you to process the content. A Swedish-language results page such as V64 Resultat lists historical V64 race results, winning horses, drivers and payouts in a fixed, orderly format. Scanning a single day’s columns or checking one race gives your brain a repetitive, low-stakes task while your body settles. It is not therapy, but as a short cognitive break it can be more useful than continuing to scroll.
When to seek postvention support
Grounding can lower the intensity of the moment, but it does not erase what you saw. If you still have intrusive images in the following days, nightmares, avoidance of certain apps or places, or a persistent sense of being detached, it may be time to talk with a licensed therapist. Therapist directories allow you to search by concern, location and therapy type, including trauma and PTSD. If you have thoughts of harming yourself or others, reach immediate support by calling or texting 988 in the United States. Postvention support after exposure to suicide-related content is a way of preventing one awful moment from becoming a longer-term injury.
A small kit for the next time
Keep the steps short: close the video, move your eyes around the room and notice what you can see, feel, touch and hear; if you can get outside, stand barefoot on grass for a minute; then silently count backward from 10 or recite the alphabet. If the clip resurfaces in your feed, pause before tapping and choose a structured, low-stakes screen instead. If the images keep intruding after a few days, book a session with a therapist who works with trauma and PTSD.