Overthinking: Reasons, Impact, Types, and Solution
Thinking more excessively than required means overthinking. You know you’re thinking too much when you spend a lot of time thinking about something instead of doing it, or if you keep going over the same ideas in your head and replaying and analyzing them without acting on them.
When you spend more time on a basic problem and then make it far more complicated than it needs to be, you are overthinking.
Can I, for instance, wear my brand-new t-shirt to work today? But what if I get judged by others? What if I’m wearing too much casual clothing? They’ll assume I’m a moron or trying too hard to look sophisticated.
It might not be the best idea to wear my brand-new shirt or wait for a special occasion. But what if that specific moment never arrives?
Reasons of Overthinking
What causes overthinking? Humans have the ability to think, but they also have another skill called intuition. It is possible to understand something intuitively without having to use conscious thought.
Have you ever been in a difficult situation and been advised to “go by your instincts”? The term “gut” in this context refers to your intuition as well as the fact that your conscious mind has no effect on your intuition. Instead, they are the outcome of your subconscious mind. This explains why there are times when it seems as though your brain is arguing with itself.
Your subconscious mind may make an effort to offer solutions to your problems. Every day, decisions must be made. The fact that your decisions affect where your life goes and what you will experience in the future. Many people find this idea to be terrifying, which is why thinking excessively is a serious mental health problem.
We all do not want to feel regret. Whatever decision we make today, affects our future life because time moves forward rather than backward.
You cannot go back in time to change the outcome once a decision has been taken. Most of the time, it is difficult to undo a decision you’ve made; thus, you must accept the results of your decisions. So, it is natural to think deeply before making any decision.
Making a bad decision is really painful so we want to avoid it as far as possible. We don’t want to spend our lives hoping that if we had made a different decision, we could have experienced something more fulfilling.
After all, thinking excessively is typically caused by fear. Your thoughts will be consumed by the seeds it plants in your mind until they become uncontrollable.
Fear is a learned emotion. We learn to fear because of trauma and painful experience in life. The effects of the trauma remain long after it has passed, and we carry the fear with us for the rest of our lives.
If left untreated, fear is a poison that remains in our minds and is the root of overthinking. Once formed, these negative beliefs become habits that are impossible to break.
Our level of fear increases as we give it more thought. Our thoughts may become more troubling; the more we fear for our lives. It takes a lot of work to break this pattern, and without the right support and resources, you find it difficult to overcome overthinking.
Types of Overthinking
Here are some common examples of thought patterns that may indicate that you tend to think too much.
Neglecting Intuition
You’re not paying attention to your intuition. You eventually realize exactly what the right choice should be, but you continue to think about it and hesitate to make a choice. If your instinct is telling you to do something but you do not take initiative, it’s a clear indication that you’re definitely overthinking things.
Complex Thinking
It is a waste of time to spend the entire day thinking about all the complex aspects that influence a choice without considering the importance of each one. Since everything seems more important the more you think about it, you are unable to filter these factors.
Premature Thinking
When you spend excessive time and energy considering choices that aren’t yet necessary, you keep thinking about it.
Irrelevant Thinking
If you are devoting all of your effort and time to decisions that are not necessary, you may be overanalyzing.
Avoidance Thinking
Perhaps you’re actively attempting to avoid doing something, but you start to overthink it to persuade yourself that you shouldn’t. When possible, you try to avoid making decisions.
Because you know you’re not the best at making decisions, you’re attempting to avoid doing them altogether. However, this isn’t the healthiest course of action either.
Problem Creation
Overthinkers keep themselves engaged in imaginary problems. Although the problem may have a simple answer, the more people think about it, the more it seems to be a newer one without a solution.
Overlooking the Bigger Picture
Overthinkers get so preoccupied with many issues in front of them that they are unable to see the bigger picture. As a result of their thinking being predisposed to negativity, individuals are unable to make the best choices.
Overdoing the Solutions
Presenting a comprehensive solution seems like the ideal course of action, but in reality, overthinking can leave you open to overdoing it. Instead of a simple, modest answer that works well enough, your solution is so overly complicated that you risk missing the whole point.
Indecisiveness
You’re overthinking it if you have trouble making straightforward decisions, like what to order at a restaurant or what to wear to work today. You should be capable of making snap judgments under these circumstances.
Ruminating
Overthinkers frequently find themselves replaying things in their minds. Anxious people frequently follow the same pattern. You may be ruminating if you find yourself repeating the same thoughts over and over again. It might be about discussions or experiences that have happened to you, or it might be something you’ll need to consider soon.
You’re probably thinking about something too much if you’re thinking about it more than is necessary. You may feel physically and emotionally weary as a result of this demanding and draining behavior.
Repetition
Repeating themselves is normal for overthinkers. It’s because you spend a lot of time thinking about the same things in your head, which makes it likely that you’ll repeat yourself when you’re speaking with your family or friends. You may be thinking too much if a friend of yours has at least once said, “You’ve told me this before,” or anything similar.
Refusing to Act
Overthinkers wait until they have all the information they need before taking any action. This may not be enough to persuade them to decide right away in the end.
Overthinkers are more likely to have trouble acting, even if there may be times when you don’t need all the information at hand before making a choice. To find the knowledge they need, they will consider every angle and ask the same question repeatedly.
Distraction
Overthinkers are unable to stay in the present because they are always thinking about their problems or imagining other situations. They are lost in thought. Currently, they are not paying attention to what is happening around them. They are not present when they carry out their daily tasks. They aren’t in the room when they are speaking with someone else.
Negative Impact of Overthinking
Overthinking causes many mental problems if not treated immediately. Let’s look at some problems that arise due to overthinking.
It Causes Mental Illness
It is possible to increase psychological health problems by overthinking. Ruminating can start a never-ending downward spiral that is very challenging to get out of if you don’t have the right tools and assistance. Mental health deteriorates more quickly, the sadder you feel in your life.
It Can Cause Anxiety
Your thoughts may cause you to feel emotions. Anything is possible, including rage, despair, and sadness, as well as joy, enthusiasm, nervousness, and much more. These are the feelings that are brought on by thinking. Overthinkers are by nature anxious.
They constantly feel anxious because they create so many hypothetical scenarios in their minds about all the bad things that could occur. They worry constantly, which keeps them from appreciating the moment.
They may feel sad and stressed because of their daily overthinking, and in the worst cases, they may become depressed and have suicidal thoughts.
It Causes Depression
Too much focus on the past causes depression, whereas anxiety is caused by worry about the future. Even though there is now no way to change what has happened, your ideas might keep you stuck in the past.
Though overthinking is one of the many factors that contribute to depression, it is not the only one. Thinking about the past event and improving the outcome is completely worthless because time travel is possible only in the theory. This only makes your condition worse.
There is no way to go back in time. However, some people continue to allow their memories of the past to weigh heavily on them every day, which causes them to experience overwhelming feelings of hopelessness and eventually develop depression.
It Causes Insomnia
Do the anxieties in your mind keep you up at night? You toss and turn as you try to go asleep, but as soon as you open your eyes, your worries come flooding back. Overthinking can lead to insomnia, and even though you’re tired, your mind is active enough to keep you up since your anxious thoughts won’t go away.
It Causes Inaction
Making decisions may become tough as a result of overthinking. Even though you may be considering thousands of different possibilities, you are unable to come to a decision.
Why? mainly because you’re worried about making the wrong decision. In addition to the ideas you’re ruminating over, you’re also considering the likelihood that every choice could be disastrous or fail.
Your mind will always come up with an explanation for why you shouldn’t act or decide. Every choice you make is always weighed against the possibility of rejection or failure. It makes no difference if you’re launching a new business, making a sales pitch to a potential client, or setting up a nighttime date.
Solutions to Overthinking
Live in a Present Moment
The best approach to learning to stop overthinking is to be in the present. The majority of individuals can’t simply turn a switch to the present moment. You have control over your thoughts and may halt unfavorable feelings.
Be careful of your thoughts before they become unmanageable, take a time to regroup, and then repeat. Inhale deeply, then focus on the present moment.
What do you see and hear right now? What are you appreciative of? Initial conscious awareness is necessary. You may educate your brain to be in the moment by performing rituals like a meditation on a regular basis. At first, it will be hard, but continuous practice makes it possible to live in the present moment.
Exercise and Meditation
Exercise and meditation are helpful to decrease overthink levels since they help you cleanse your thoughts and achieve emotional calmness. Find a quiet place if you have a never-ending stream of thoughts going through your mind. Take a moment to relax, breathe deeply, and focus solely on your breathing.
Be Flexible and Accept New Things
Remember that just because something hasn’t worked out in the past doesn’t mean that this has to happen every time. If you’re afraid of failing again, of trying, or of being overly general about the outcomes of another error. Recognize that every opportunity offers a new beginning and a chance to start over.
Control Your Emotion
You must accept your emotions and determine their underlying reasons if you want to control them. Dig deeper when you’re feeling nervous.
It frequently involves facing your bigger worries, including not feeling in control of your life or not moving forward as quickly as you’d like to. Learn the causes of your overthinking so you may take steps to prevent it from happening in the first place.
Share Your Feelings
Sometimes letting go of your emotions is the greatest way to avoid thinking. Your heart will always feel better at ease when you express your sentiments to others and confide in your loved ones about all of your troubles. It may also alter your perspective on the problems and aid in your search for a solution.
Set a Realistic Goal
Unrealistic goals may trigger excessive thinking. When you set goals that seem impossible to achieve, you may start to question why you set them, why you haven’t been successful in accomplishing them, or what you could have done differently to get there. It will be less likely for you to overthink your activities if you set more achievable goals.
Accept Yourself as You are
Overthinking is frequently a symptom of worry brought on by the belief that you are not competent, talented, dedicated, or hardworking enough. If you gave it your best effort, you can look at it realistically and see that, despite the fact that some things may affect your success that you are unable to control, you have done the best you could.