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Overthinking: What is it? What are his damages? And how do you beat it?
While it may take some to think about certain situations they face in their lives for a while, a number of people suffer from constant and constant flows of ideas in their minds. Chronic Overthinkers often regain in their heads the conversations they had yesterday, question every decision they make or imagine disastrous outcomes for everything, all day, every day!
Excessive overthinking does not just involve words, overthinkers also evoke disastrous images in their minds from their imagination. You can liken their mind to a movie in which their car falls, for example, off a cliff or they keep thinking about bad events they've been through over and over again.
You may not feel that overthinking is so bad, but if you're really experiencing it, you know how stressful, energy-draining, and self-exhausting it is.
Let's talk in more detail about this problem and learn about the best ways to get rid of excessive overthinking or at least reduce it.
Excessive overthinking and destructive thinking patterns
Excessive overthinking usually involves two main types of destructive thinking: Regretting and constant anxiety.
Regretting usually involves constant thinking about the past, and may include thoughts such as:
- I shouldn't have said those things during the meeting yesterday. Of course, everyone thinks I'm an idiot.
- I should have stayed at my previous job, but I would have been happier then than I am now.
My parents didn't teach me how to cherish my self-confidence. My fears and my constant sense of insecurity always prevent me from moving forward in my life.
Constant anxiety often involves negative (and sometimes catastrophic) ideas and predictions about the future. We find ideas such as:
- I know I'm going to embarrass myself tomorrow when I make that show. I'll forget everything I have to say.
- All my colleagues will receive promotions before me.
- I know we'll never have enough money to retire. We're going to get sick, we can't keep working, we won't have enough money.
Damages To Excessive Overthinking
Excessive overthinking can negatively affect not only your mental health but also your physical and emotional health. Grief and depression are not the only outcomes of overthinking, as it has many other damages to all aspects of your life.
Here are some of these damages:
1- More thinking means a shorter life!
According to a study conducted at Harvard Medical School on a group of people between the ages of 60 and 70 and older persons over 100 years of age, those who died at younger ages had less protein that calmed the brain.
Overthinking exhausts the brain and thus leads to the secretion of this protein. This does not mean that you will die at the age of 30 if you are overthought, but it will undoubtedly have a negative impact on the brain and lead to problems and diseases that can cause death.
2- Fewer And Worse Hours Of Sleep
Sometimes you may not be able to control your overthinking. This makes your body come out of rest and relax to become more alert.
What does that mean?
Yes, exactly... This means fewer hours of sleep and even worse sleep quality, which in turn leads to a constant feeling of fatigue and stress.
3. Increase The Chances Of Mental Illness
One of the most important damages of overthinking is an increased risk of mental illness and problems such as chronic anxiety, depression, PTSD, or borderline personality disorder.
In short, overthinking leads to many mental problems and disorders that in turn lead to more overthinking to find yourself in an inevitable vicious circle.
4- Appetite Disorders
If you're overthinking, you may find yourself unwilling to eat, or in the most common causes, you may overeat to relieve stress and thinking. These disorders and fluctuations in appetite often lead to many physical health problems.
5- Decline In Creativity And Innovation
Contrary to what you might think, thinking too much will help you find more solutions to your problems, it actually reduces your creativity, makes the search for solutions a difficult challenge, and even innovation and new ideas in your business will become harder.
6. Negatively Affecting Social Skills
When we spend a lot of time analyzing what others might think about us, it usually creates a sense of fear and isolation from social attitudes.
Just imagine how many times you imagined someone wouldn't like you or wouldn't like you, and as a result, you didn't talk to him. You may have missed a lot of opportunities to get to know new friends or to expand your relationships because of your excessive overthinking.
Too much thinking is often the reason behind your actions and feelings, not the people around you?
How do I get rid of overthinking? What is the treatment of overthinking and obsessiveness?
If you're overthinking, you're probably aware of that, and maybe the reason you're reading this article now is that you want to know how to overcome your overthinking.
First of all, you have to realize that thinking too much is only a habit... But it's a bad habit. It's not easy, of course, but with continuous exercise, you'll be able to train your mind to think differently. Here are some effective ways to reduce or eliminate excessive overthinking altogether.
1- Watch out for yourself when you're stuck in your thoughts
Over-thinking can turn into a habit so entrenched and rooted in you that you won't pay attention to yourself when you do it. So the first step is to pay more attention to your way of thinking so that you become more aware of this problem.
When you find yourself thinking about events in your head over and over again, or you worry too much about things you can't control, admit that this pattern of thinking is futile.
Always remember that thinking will only help you in one case, namely that it leads you to make decisions and take positive action.
2- Look and pay attention to how you respond to your ideas
The way you respond to your thoughts can sometimes make you immersed in a vicious circle of frequent anxiety or regret. So, when you find yourself in the cycle of overthinking, watch out for the impact of this thinking on your feelings and mood. Are you nervous? Anxiety or reprimand? And what's the basic feeling that feeds your thoughts?
Always remember that self-awareness is your first step to changing your mind.
3- Distract your attention from overthinking
In other words, stop anxiety and overthinking by busying yourself with activities you enjoy. These activities vary from person to person, but you can take advantage of the following ideas:
- Develop your cooking skills by learning a new recipe.
- Enroll in sports classes.
- Practice a new hobby such as painting.
- Volunteer with some local institutions near you.
It can be hard to start something new when you're under the influence of your ideas, so if you find it hard to find what's on your mind, start by taking some time (30 minutes a day) to explore new hobbies that distract you from thinking too much, or to practice hobbies you already have.
4- Take a deep breath!
No doubt you've heard this advice millions of times before. Do you know why?
Because it is simply effective and has real results...
The next time you find yourself immersed in the sea of your crashing thoughts, close your eyes and take a deep breath to help you relax. Here's a simple breathing exercise, which can start:
- Find a quiet place and sit there while relaxing your neck and shoulders.
- Place one hand on your heart and the other over your stomach.
- Take a deep breath from the nose and then take it out slowly, focusing on the chest and abdominal movement during breathing.
- Repeat this exercise three times a day for five minutes, or whenever you have the opportunity to do so.
5- You should exercise meditation
Regular adherence to meditation exercises has proven scientifically effective in filtering the mind and eliminating the chaos of thoughts within you, by focusing your attention on your depths.
6. Look at the big picture
Ask yourself every time you find yourself immersed in thinking about a case: "What impact does this problem or issue have on my life after 5 or 10 years?"
Will anyone really care that you forgot what to say during the presentation? Or did you make a mistake during the meeting?
It probably won't happen... Then why do you make the pill a dome? And plunge yourself into a sea of ideas that won't have any effect after some time?
7- Do something nice for someone
When you try to ease the load on someone, it will make things right. So always think of ways to help someone else who's going through a hard time.
You don't need to provide many services, just helping your sick neighbor carry their purchases from the market, or helping your friend find a job after he leaves his job, can make a big difference for you and them as well.
Realizing that you can make someone's day better will undoubtedly help keep negative thoughts away from you, and give you something positive to think about rather than vicious circles of sterile ideas.
8- Learn about your negative thinking patterns and try to change them
Negative thinking patterns refer to all thoughts based on feelings of fear or anger that are in reaction to an event in one's life.
It's very important to track and address these ideas before they completely capture you and plunge you into the cycle of overthinking.
Keep a record of these ideas and change them, by following the following steps:
- Use a notebook to track the situation that causes you anxiety, or negatively affects your mood, and type in the first thoughts you always have automatically.
- Delve deeper into the details of these ideas and the values of the situation that causes you these negative thoughts.
- Divide the feelings you feel and determine what you say to yourself about the situation you're going through.
- Find an alternative to the initial (automatic) ideas that rotate in your head.
For example, instead of starting to think directly that you're going to fail miserably in something, tell yourself you're doing your best and trying to do your best.
9- Acknowledge your successes
When you find yourself excessive overthinking, take out a paper and rarely open your favorite note-writing app on your mobile phone, and instantly type five things you've accomplished over the past week to the fullest.
These achievements don't have to be great, things like cleaning your car, rearranging your desk drawers, or even sticking to your weekly budget will have a big impact on your psyche and ideas.
When you look at all these simple achievements combined, you'll see how important and positive small achievements are.
Always check out this list of small achievements whenever you feel you're sinking into the cycle of overthinking.
10. Focus on the current moment
Indeed, meditation always leads you to focus on the present moment, but it is not the only way to do so. Many other routine life practices help you focus on now.
Here are some:
- Turn off your phone or computer for a specified period and focus on doing only one activity without interruption.
- Be more aware when eating, by making sure you enjoy each bite and focus on the taste, smell, and texture of each ingredient of your dish.
- Take a stroll outside, even if it's short, and focus on noticing everything around you.
- Pay attention to the smells you smell, the sounds you hear, and all the views you see in front of you.
11. Look at the world from a different angle
Sometimes, to calm your thoughts you may need to change your perspective of things around you.
Your worldview is based on your past experiences, values, and assumptions, so always try to imagine things from someone else's point of view, which will greatly ease your excessive overthinking.
12. Take practical steps to overcome overthinking
Your excessive overthinking can sometimes be the result of not taking any real practical steps to change things around you.
Do you keep thinking about someone you wish you were?
Instead of ruining your day with ideas like, "I'll never be like him," or "I'm never going to be successful as a king..." Or similar ideas, start immediately by writing real and practical steps to help you reach your goals. This will keep you away from sterile thinking and instead direct your energy to work and work hard.
Always use your thoughts and feelings to take real steps to live a better life.
13. Be more sympathetic to yourself
Continuing to think about the past prevents you from moving forward with your life. So if you've always reprimanded yourself for mistakes you've made in the recent or distant past, try to be more self-receptive and more sympathetic to them.
Here are some steps you can start with:
- Choose the idea of what you're having frequently.
- Identify the feeling associated with this idea that you get whenever you think about it.
- Admit your feelings and the truth at the moment.
- Choose a sympathetic sentence that you say to yourself whenever you have these feelings. For example, "I accept myself as I am" or "I am enough"... etc.
14. Accept your fears
Some things in life will always be out of your control no matter how hard you try to control them. When you learn how to accept these things, you will significantly reduce the process of excessive overthinking.
Speaking is easier than doing, of course, but you can always start with small steps to overcome your fears and accept things beyond your control.
Start by facing the small situations that always cause you anxiety, such as standing up to a bossy coworker, or going on that journey you've always wanted to make on your own.
15. Don't be ashamed to ask for help
Sometimes you find yourself unable to control your thoughts on your own. All previous ways fail to make you stop repeating those negative scenarios in your mind.
Feel free to ask experienced and competent people for help, as resorting to a therapist or specialist mentor will definitely help you, as it will provide you with effective tools and strategies to change your thinking style.
Bottom line
If you're overthinking, you're not the only one. Seven dozen people aged 25-35, and about 53% of those aged 45-55, are overthought.
Thinking is normal human, but when it's too much, it's easy to sink into negative thoughts and build unfounded assumptions.
Are you one of those people? Do you feel that overthinking affects you in any of the previous ways described above? If so, what steps do you think you should start to solve this problem?
Share your opinion with the comments, and it's no harm to read some of our useful fun articles, which will definitely help you ease excessive thinking!
Sources: Healthline, themuse, psych2go
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