13 Proven Ways To Stop Overthinking, From Psychology Experts

13 Proven Ways To Stop Overthinking, From Psychology Experts

Thinking is great; except when it’s not!

Constructive, helpful and positive thinking, or what we might call hope and optimism and resilience, are crucial components of happiness and living a good life.

Unhelpful, negative thinking, on the other hand, can contribute to depression and anxiety and cause all manner of physical and psychological health problems.

On top of all that, overthinking can create mental exhaustion, interrupt sleep and again, exacerbate anxiety and other forms of mental ill-health.

So, if you’re looking for more happiness and feel managing overthinking would be worth pursuing then keep reading …

via Mind Body Green by Stephanie Catahan

Racing thoughts, worrying, thinking too much. The frenetic thought pattern has so many names yet describes a single common experience: overthinking. 

What is overthinking?

Overthinking is defined as repetitive and unproductive thought patterns. It is usually an uncomfortable experience in the mind where it feels crucial to think through the issue at hand over and over. However, the “thinking through” oftentimes leads nowhere.

According to licensed therapist Kimberly Martin, LMFT, there are different ways overthinking can manifest, such as: 

  • Rumination: Repetitive thinking and dwelling on negative thoughts and feelings
  • Hypervigilance: Constantly assessing for potential danger
  • Catastrophizing: Assuming the worst will happen

There are evolutionary reasons why humans do so much of this type of thinking, according to licensed therapist Chay Tanchanco, LMFT. “Part of our survival as humans has depended on anticipating danger,” she explains. “If our ancestors could predict where or when their life was threatened, they could plan to get away safely or prepare for a conflict, giving them a better chance at seeing the next day.”

So, overthinking is a survival mechanism that was actually useful to our primal ancestors. But it’s proving not so useful in today’s world.

“In the modern world, we don’t have the same kind of dangers as humans did thousands of years ago—however, our brains are still operating with many of those same systems,” Tanchanco says. “Overthinking is our brains’ way of trying to predict harm while applying the complex modern layers of societal stigmas, expectations, and safeguards.”

Why am I overthinking so much?

There are many reasons why someone might be overthinking. Here a few of the big causes: 

You’re dealing with heightened emotions.

“It is very common to overthink things when we are feeling strong emotions toward them,” says Martin. That is, if a situation is eliciting a strong emotional response from you, you’re more likely to start overthinking about it. 

According to Martin, some emotions that can spark overthinking include:

  • Nervousness 
  • Stress
  • Sadness
  • Excitement

These are obviously common emotions, so in that sense, overthinking is simply a natural response to certain types of life experiences. “However, overthinking becomes a mental health concern when it becomes unmanageable and causes unwanted disruptions to one’s day-to-day life,” says Martin. 

It may be a sign of other mental health concerns.

Overthinking has been associated with depression, anxiety, PTSD, insomnia, and eating disorders1. “It is a common symptom of many mental disorders, commonly couched inside of self-doubt, excessive worry, or overwhelming [feelings] that others are out to get us,” says licensed therapist Cynthia Siadat, LCSW.

So, overthinking can be thought of as a warning sign that something may be off, and it’s worth working with a mental health professional if you feel like overthinking is getting in the way of your daily life.

Relatedly, a 2018 study2 also found that if you already have depressive symptoms, overthinking can reinforce depressive thought patterns. One way to get at the root cause of the depressive symptoms is to change the negative beliefs fueling the overthinking thought patterns. This process is best explored with a therapist.

It’s what you saw growing up.

Siadat says some of us overthink because the thought pattern was modeled to us by the adults in our early lives.

1963 study3 tested the power of observing behavior with an experiment that exposed moral judgment to children. They found that children who observed adult models and who received reinforcement held on to the moral teachings more effectively.

So, if we observed overthinking in our caretakers and had the thought pattern reinforced by common warnings like “make sure you don’t…” and “double-check if…” we may have a higher likelihood of developing overthinking thought patterns.

It’s a trauma response.

“People who have witnessed [or] experienced traumatic events may be especially prone to overthinking due to fears and worries that the same events may happen again,” Martin explains. “This causes hypervigilance as a way for our brains to keep us safe.”

It’s part of the culture.

Our culture and environment can also contribute to overthinking, says Siadat. For example, “The old adage that has been the basis of much of Western thought, ‘I think therefore I am’ has encouraged a sort of disembodied experience in Western-influenced cultures that encourages more of a focus on what’s happening above the neck versus below,” she says. 

One review4 published in the Social Science & Medicine journal studied the language around “thinking too much” across global populations. It found that expressions like “I’m thinking too much” can be found in many cultures, and it’s usually a sign that people are in mental distress. Although solutions for overthinking are available, the review found that solutions to treat “thinking too much” need to be culturally relevant. The good news is cultural sensitivity is starting to become more commonplace in therapy practices.

Your job encourages overthinking.

Your job may also be adding to your overthinking thought pattern. Some occupations require multiple facets of thinking before taking action, leading to chronic overthinking, says Siadat. The conditions of your surroundings shape the way you think.

Some personality types may be more prone to overthinking.

Some people have minds that are just wired for jumping from idea to idea without pauses, says Siadat. For example, she says, one particular personality type that might be prone to overthinking is intelligent folks.

“Overthinking is a plague of the brilliant,” Siadat asserts. “The capacity that brilliant people have to think quickly and with great depth can be astounding. It can also be difficult to turn off, especially in a culture where we are so frequently stimulated.”

Tanchanco also sees overthinking as common among certain personality types. “I identify as and work with people I call ‘Anxious Perfectionist Givers’ (APGs),” she says. “We are notorious overthinkers and often got far in life because we tend to be planners, high achievers, and work in service industries such as nursing, education, and other care-related jobs. Because we are juggling many things and empathizing with others as part of our work, we tend to overthink past what is helpful or necessary.”

13 ways to stop overthinking.

If overthinking is getting in the way, try these tips to alleviate some of the mental chatter …

… keep reading the full & original article HERE