During the winter war, the Russian army was approaching a forest. From the woods someone shouted "One Finn can defeat ten Russians!"
The Russian commander smirked and sent in ten men. After a brief hail of gunfire, the same voice shouted "One Finn can defeat twenty Russians!"
Getting frustrated, the Russian commander sent in 25 of his best soldiers. There was a protracted battle, then silence. After a minute, the tired voice shouted "One Finn can defeat fifty Russians!"
Now furious, the Russian commander pulls up a force of two hundred men and sends them into the woods. Gunfire erupts, trees are ripped to shreds by explosions, and hell was unleashed. After what seemed like hours, a single Russian soldier staggered from the woods, bleeding badly. He looks at what's left of the army and desperately screams "It's a trap! There's TWO of them!"
Panic/ thought spirals are not that rare, in my experience. If this person is already this nervous about it, it makes spiraling that much more likely.