What does "spiralling" mean?

[Saluki]

I feel silly asking this question, but when someone tells me they're "spiralling", or saying "when I spiral", what does that mean?
I don't know what it means. Is it having a panic attack, or is it an ef or is it intrusive thoughts one can't control or is it a combination of many things? I hear the term a lot and I can't figure out if I "spiral" because I don't understand what it means.  People use this term a lot so I feel like I need to know what it means! Thank you!

[lowbudgetTV]

I would agree with you: I consider it something like a panic attack / uncontrollable situation.

It's like the phrase "spiraling out of control". I think of it like: something happened to this person, and they're coping with it poorly, doing unhelpful things. It can be regressing back to old, bad habits, or thinking too much about unhelpful things or people. It could also be like submitting to an addiction like buying too much stuff or eating unwell or hanging out with bad people.

In short, I think of it like a catch-all term for "not doing well; lots of bad things occurring; can't help it (easily)."

[NarcKiddo]

It probably means slightly different things to different people. I'm not sure that it is an "official" term for anything. For me it evokes that horrible feeling of not being able to get away from something or control it. Just going round and round and round, faster and faster, not making progress, not able to concentrate on anything else, not able to think logically about how to stop whatever it is that needs stopped or do whatever it is that needs done. Catastrophizing is a big part of that feeling for me.