How To Overcome Overthinking

Overthinking can impact an individual’s well being and mental health. Learn more about overthinking to recognize the signs of an overthinker. Explore the types of overthinking, ways and techniques that can help you cope with and alleviate the stress of overthinking.

What is Overthinking?

Overthinking is a habitual thought pattern involving excessive thoughts about certain events or situations and analyzing the scenario for long periods. The definition of classic overthinking is “to think about something too much or for too long.”

So the question arises, “When does thinking become overthinking?” When you cannot turn your concerns off, you incessantly ruminate on experiences and worry about things out of your control. Ultimately you become unable to make decisions or get thoughts out of your own head.

Overthinking can be hard to overcome because you might think that thinking longer about situations will help you develop the best solutions and problem-solve. However, overthinking about a situation, imagining worst-case scenarios or always second-guessing your decisions is mentally exhausting and can fuel negative thoughts and emotions.

Why Overthinking is Bad For You

Overthinking and worrying are a part of human nature. However, overthinking and destructive thought patterns can become a habit and negatively affect an individual’s physical well being when left unchecked.

Overthinking can cause the release of the stress hormone cortisol from the nervous system. Excess cortisol release can cause heightened anxiety and other physical symptoms, including muscle tension, headaches, fatigue, rapid heartbeat, and dry mouth.

Overthinking can also trigger mental health problems and conditions. Similarly, individuals with a mental health disorder are more prone to overthinking and experiencing higher anxiety levels. Overthinking only contributes to worsened anxiety, stress and depression.

Your emotions can impair your ability to think and view situations objectively. Therefore, individuals need to learn how to stop overthinking using simple techniques and habits. Taking control of your thoughts can be the best thing you can do for your overall mental wellness.

Signs You Might Be Overthinking 

A few signs that you may be overthinking could be that you are unable to relax, you experience constant anxiety and worry, feelings of mental exhaustion, repetitive and ruminating thoughts, you fixate on things you cannot control, question your decisions, think of worst-case scenarios, replay experiences and scenarios in your head and have continual negative thoughts.

Why Does Overthinking Happen?

There are various reasons why you might be finding yourself in a state of constant overthinking. With the fast-paced life, our brains tend to be impacted by negative thoughts, mental issues and even toxic environments, such as noise pollution.

Anxiety Disorders and Other Mental Health Conditions

Though overthinking can make you anxious, it is not a mental illness. However, it can frequently play a role in developing several mental health conditions. Some of the disorders that are associated with overthinking include depression, generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), panic disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and social anxiety disorder (SAD).

Fear

One of the most common causes of overthinking is fear. When people are afraid, they tend to meditate on their thoughts and fixate on worst-case scenarios. Thus fear can lead to a cycle of negative thinking, making it difficult to focus on positive outcomes, leaving people feeling stuck.

Uncertainty about the future

Uncertainty about things that may or may not happen contributes to overthinking. When people are unsure about what might happen, they worry and spend a lot of time envisioning the worst outcomes, preparing for every possible scenario in their minds. 

Past Trauma

Trauma is also a factor that can cause overthinking. People experiencing or who have experienced trauma in their life is more susceptible to overthinking.

Experiencing a traumatic event or series of events can disrupt the sense of safety and stability, leading to heightened anxiety and hypervigilance. The intrusive thoughts and memories associated with trauma can become overwhelming, making it difficult to break free from repetitive and distressing thinking patterns.

Individuals who have experienced trauma may constantly replay the events in their minds, trying to make sense of what happened or searching for ways to prevent similar occurrences in the future. Overthinking can serve as a coping mechanism or an attempt to regain control or prepare for potential threats.

Additionally, trauma can negatively affect self-esteem, creating a heightened self-critical inner voice that fuels overthinking and self-doubt. Recognizing the impact of trauma on overthinking is crucial in developing effective strategies for healing and managing these thought patterns.

3 Common Types of Overthinking

There are different types of overthinking. Three of the common types include catastrophizing, overgeneralizing and all-or-nothing thinking.

Catastrophizing

Catastrophizing involves believing that things are worse than they are in objective reality. For example, constant fear that you failed an exam or were unsuccessful in an interview regardless of your performance.

This can start the cycle of worrying that you will fail school or not get a job, commonly leading to catastrophic thoughts of what this means for the trajectory of your life. This type of overthinking makes you worry unnecessarily and sets up unrealistic and worst-case scenarios about outcomes that are out of your control.

Overgeneralizing

Overgeneralizing happens when you focus on a single event from the past and form future expectations based on that event. Instead of thinking about how possible outcomes could differ, you might assume that prior outcomes will never or always occur. Overgeneralizing a single event from the past can result in overthinking and worrying about things in the future that might not even occur. This type of overthinking limits your ability to imagine positive or even alternative futures for yourself, keeping you in a cycle of negativity.

All-or-Nothing Thinking

All-or-Nothing thinking involves seeing situations completely as black or white, positive or negative. Instead of analyzing a situation or scenario based on objective truths, you might analyze the situation as a failure or success. This way of thinking positions your feelings about a situation on the extreme ends of the spectrum by attributing “good” or “bad” attributes to facts.

9 Ways to Help You Stop Overthinking

Rumination, a characteristic of overthinking, involves stress, worry and negative emotions. Many people overthink things, unsure why they ruminate or dwell on problems.

It is important to remember that learning from a wrong decision or failure is better than overthinking and being afraid to make decisions.

If you overthink or tend to ruminate, there are several ways you can use several ways and  strategies to cope with your thought pattern:

Challenge Your Thoughts

It is important to remind yourself that your thoughts are not always realistic, accurate or truthful and thus can be changed. Understanding how to reframe your thoughts positively can help lower the likelihood of overthinking.

If you think you are overthinking, challenge your thoughts and ask yourself whether these thoughts are realistic by evaluating your thoughts and considering alternative scenarios. Although reframing your thoughts might be difficult initially, learning to identify the helpfulness of your thoughts will help replace and reduce the number of negative thoughts you experience.

While your thoughts and how you see the world is shaped by several factors, including your beliefs, values, culture and experiences, thinking from a different point of view can also prevent you from overthinking.

Distract Yourself

Instead of sitting and thinking about a problem endlessly, you should stay in the present moment and channel your energy to something less damaging. Distracting yourself is a way to channel your energy away from this negativity.

Diverting your focus onto positive and pleasant things can separate you from negative thinking and allows your brain to focus on finding a better solution to the problem at hand.

Healthy distractions include meditation, taking walks, reading, volunteering or taking up new hobbies. All of these examples can also help lower stress levels. Building these activities into your routine to distract yourself from chronic overthinking can reduce your anxiety levels, making you less prone to overthink.  

Finding distractions and starting something new is difficult when you are overwhelmed with thoughts; setting aside small chunks of time, around 20-30 minutes, can help you explore these distractions or find new ones.

Help Through Therapy

If your ruminating thoughts are highly distressing and interfere with everyday life, and you cannot break free from overthinking, consider seeking professional help. Overthinking may be a symptom of mental health issues like depression or anxiety, which may also increase your susceptibility to developing other mental health problems in the future.

Therefore, a mental health professional can help you understand your emotions and thoughts and distinguish between productive and unproductive thoughts while teaching you coping skills. They may suggest or recommend coping strategies that work for you, like mindfulness or physical exercise.

It is better to talk to a professional about constant worries than keep them to yourself. If you feel ready, consider seeing a mental health professional specializing in an evidence-based practice like cognitive-behavioral therapy or seeking a health care professional who has experience helping individuals who are anxious or who have similar mental health symptoms as yourself.

A clinical psychologist, for example, can teach you positive reframing, which will allow you to become more aware of your mental health habits, acknowledge your negative emotions and thoughts, and evaluate other ways to think about the situations.  

Meditation and Mindfulness

Meditation and mindfulness can help regulate your emotions by improving concentration, memory and reducing stress. Attention training is a meditative technique that involves people directing attention towards an everyday routine task, for instance, doing the laundry or washing dishes, to tune out the negative and intrusive thoughts in your head. 

The aim is not to clear out your mind but to redirect your focus and mind to something else when you overthink. Research demonstrates that meditation for ten minutes daily can lower anxiety and stress levels. Mindfulness and meditation help enhance complete psychological well-being.

Improve your Interpersonal Skills

Research shows that interpersonal skills greatly impact your thinking habits, particularly overthinking, and working on these skills can help stop overthinking. Ways to improve interpersonal skills include practicing self-control, boosting self-confidence and increasing self-awareness.

Learning interpersonal skills can be highly beneficial in stopping overthinking and fostering healthier thought patterns. Developing effective communication and relationship-building skills allows us to engage more meaningfully and authentically with others.

By practicing active listening, empathy, and assertiveness, we create opportunities for open dialogue and gain valuable perspectives outside of our minds. Interacting with others helps to challenge our overthinking tendencies by offering different viewpoints and insights.

Developing strong interpersonal skills can contribute to building a supportive social network, providing a sense of belonging and reducing feelings of isolation. Engaging in healthy relationships and connections nurtures a positive self-image, boosts self-confidence, and reduces anxiety, all crucial factors in combating overthinking.

Ultimately, by honing our interpersonal skills, we enhance our ability to navigate social interactions, express ourselves effectively, and gain a broader perspective, empowering us to break free from the confines of overthinking and cultivate a more balanced and fulfilling mental state.

Live in The Moment

Overthinkers often focus intently on the past, expending energy on “what ifs” and “should haves.” Both situations are unchangeable and futile. Letting go of the past means you do not let your mistakes control or impact your future decisions.

You can not let bad things done to you control your emotions. Grounding yourself in the present moment is important, and a few ways you can do that is by engaging in activities you find joy in, for example, going outside, unplugging from excessive use of technology, eating your favorite meals or talking with friends and family.

Practice Self Compassion and Acceptance

Self-compassion plays a vital role in stopping overthinking and cultivating a healthier mindset. When we practice self-compassion, we extend kindness, understanding, and acceptance toward ourselves, especially in self-doubt or negative thinking moments. By treating ourselves compassionately, we create a supportive inner environment that counters the harsh self-criticism often associated with overthinking.

Dwelling on past mistakes or negative events in our lives is futile since they are completely out of our control to change. Try spending more time being compassionate and accepting of yourself by treating yourself with kindness, love and forgiveness.

Calming and soothing the body's internal system can allow you to problem-solve in situations with a clearer mind. Think about aspects of yourself that you appreciate, generate a strong support system of family and friends that will provide you with encouragement and love, forgive yourself for past mistakes and focus on the future.

Self-compassion allows us to acknowledge and validate our struggles without judgment, fostering a sense of self-worth and resilience. It encourages us to embrace our imperfections and mistakes as part of the human experience, reducing the tendency to ruminate on negative thoughts. We cultivate a gentler and more nurturing inner voice through self-compassion, promoting self-care and fostering a positive mindset.

By showing ourselves the same compassion and understanding we would offer to a loved one, we create a foundation of self-acceptance and emotional well-being, ultimately empowering us to subdue overthinking and foster a healthier relationship with our thoughts and emotions.

Face Your Fears

Although not everything is under your control, understanding this and learning to accept your fears and negative thoughts can improve your mental well-being. Look for small opportunities to confront situations and things you worry about frequently, and refocus your thoughts onto things you can take positive action against.

It is important to take a step back, deal with problems one at a time, and tell yourself to stop thinking about something not under your control.

Write in a Journal

Writing in a journal to track your mood, anxiety, and negative thoughts about a situation allows you to take immediate power and emotion out of them and express your feelings in words. Write down things you are grateful for or acknowledge your achievements and successes while dumping your worries and stress onto paper so they do not live inside you.

Writing down your thoughts in a journal can give you a sense of control over your thoughts and emotions, provide perspective and clarity, relieve stress and encourage positive self-talk. Journals also help you track recurring triggers that may lead to your overthinking.

Putting pen to paper and expressing our thoughts and emotions create an outlet for self-reflection and self-expression. Through journaling, we externalize our internal struggles, allowing us to gain clarity and perspective on our thought patterns. Writing down our worries, fears, and anxieties not only helps to release them from our minds but also enables us to identify and examine them objectively. This process of introspection allows us to identify recurring negative thought patterns and challenge their validity.

Additionally, journaling and other forms of writing provide a safe space to explore alternative perspectives, brainstorm solutions, and document moments of gratitude or personal growth. Regular journaling practice can promote self-awareness, enhance emotional regulation, and foster a sense of empowerment which helps to stop more overthinking. By engaging in this reflective practice, we gain insight into ourselves, break free from the cycle of overthinking, and pave the way for a more peaceful and focused state of mind.

Conclusion

Overthinking and negative thought patterns can significantly impact our well-being and hinder our ability to lead fulfilling lives. However, by understanding the detrimental effects of overthinking and implementing practical strategies, we can overcome these patterns and cultivate a more positive mindset.

Repetitive thinking and spending too much time dwelling on past or random worries can create a vicious cycle of excessive worry and stress, causing you to feel less confident, prepared and motivated. Therefore it is important to find ways to work through such negative emotions and remove negative thoughts from your head to stop overthinking. 

Through techniques such as mindfulness, cognitive reframing, and self-compassion, we can recognize and challenge negative thoughts, cultivate a sense of present-moment awareness, and develop healthier thought patterns. It is important to remember that overcoming overthinking is a gradual process that requires patience and practice and that incessant worrying is a symptom of a life that people can deal with and is not a mental disorder.

Self-help strategies can help you challenge your thoughts, distract yourself from overthinking, and negate the negative effects of overthinking. However, if these strategies don't work, you need to consult a mental health professional that can help you develop coping skills and mental tools to reduce or even stop overthinking.

Luckily, there are ways to stop overthinking. By actively engaging in self-reflection, seeking support when needed, and embracing a growth mindset, we can reclaim control over our thoughts and pave the way for a more balanced and joyful existence. Let us embark on this journey towards mental freedom and embrace the power of positive thinking in enhancing our overall well-being.

References

How to Stop Overthinking: Signs, Causes, and Ways to Cope 

How to stop overthinking | 6 amazing tips that can help

14 Ways to Stop Overthinking

Analysis paralysis - Wikipedia