Living with Depression and a Racing Mind: Mindfulness and ACT Strategies to Find Calm

How do you deal with depression when your mind won’t stop racing?

In this episode, Dr. Steven C. Hayes — founder of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) — shares practical tools for calming intrusive thoughts, reducing self-criticism, and finding psychological flexibility.

Through humor, metaphors, and science-backed strategies, Dr. Hayes explains how naming your mind, playfully reframing negative thoughts, and practicing self-compassion can help stop the cycle of overthinking. He also describes why being of service to others works like an antidepressant, and how mindfulness gives us the power to pivot back into the present moment.

If you’ve ever struggled with coping with depression and a racing mind, this episode offers hope, tools, and perspective from one of the most quoted psychologists in the world — and someone who’s lived it himself.

Primary Topics Covered:

• What Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is and how it works
• Why naming your mind (“George”) can help calm intrusive thoughts
• Simple exercises to diffuse negative self-talk
• How to humanize your inner critic with humor and play
• Using mindfulness to slow down racing thoughts
• Why being of service can act like a natural antidepressant
• Reframing depression as an opportunity for connection and growth
• Why honesty about mental health struggles increases empathy and connection
• The importance of self-compassion and seeing yourself as whole

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro — Welcome and episode overview
 01:00 Guest introduction: Dr. Steven C. Hayes, founder of ACT
 02:00 What ACT therapy is and why it helps with depression
 03:30 Learning psychological flexibility through mentors and self-kindness
 04:30 When your brain becomes a dictator: intrusive thoughts and self-criticism
 06:20 How being of service can act like an antidepressant
 07:40 The “racing car” brain metaphor — and learning to put on the brakes
 08:50 Naming your mind (Dr. Hayes calls his “George”) to create distance
 10:20 Playful ways to diffuse negative thoughts: cartoons, singing, repetition
 12:40 Reframing negative self-talk with compassion for your younger self
 14:50 Why we should stop hiding our depression — and how openness builds connection
 17:40 Depression as an opportunity: turning “lemons into lemonade”
 19:20 Mindfulness as a pivot back into the present moment
 21:00 Closing reflections and reminder: “Speak up if you’re struggling, listen up if someone else is.”

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