We all live in a highly demanding, overstimulated society. The act of overthinking puts our ordinary cognitive instincts on overdrive. An excessive amount of thinking leads to distress because our thought processes are out of control. In general, our brains assist us in solving problems and gaining a greater understanding of things, however overthinking has the opposite effect. No matter what you call it, whether it's worry, anxiety, stress, rumination, or even obsession, overthinking does not benefit us in any way.
Is overthinking actually a problem? An over-thinker analyzes, evaluates, ruminates, and worries about certain things excessively to the point that it adversely affects his or her mental health. It can sometimes be difficult to recognize that this problem actually exists, since we are quite adept at convincing ourselves that our current worry is all-encompassing…..Until it is replaced by the next all-encompassing worry. The gift of thinking is wonderful. Many of our accomplishments have been grounded in our ability to analyze and reflect on our own thought processes. The thought process is not an enemy. The brain is an extraordinarily useful tool, but when we overthink, we only make it less effective.
Overthinking is sometimes a symptom and expression of other mental health conditions, such as Depression and General anxiety, it is entirely possible to be overthinking without these conditions. There is nothing more harmful than excessive mental activity, whether analyzing, judging, monitoring, evaluating, controlling, or worrying. There are significant ways in which our daily habits can fuel our anxieties and result in overthinking. Even seemingly innocuous habits, such as checking social media too much, not eating properly, not drinking enough water, having irregular sleep cycles, etc., can aggravate our tendency to overthink.
A number of short-term and long-term physical effects can occur, including racing heart, headaches, nausea, muscle tension, fatigue, dry mouth, dizziness, increased breathing rate, aching muscles, and memory problems.
Effects on the mind and emotions include Feeling irritable, not able to focus, lack of motivation, changes in libido and appetite, nightmares, harmful self-talk, low self-confidence, and feeling on edge.
Social and environmental impacts include Loss of close relationships, poor performance at work, impatience and irritability, withdrawing socially, and engaging in harmful or addictive behaviors.
Overthinking can be effectively addressed by taking a step back rather than trying to solve the problem from inside our own ruminations. As you can imagine, there is a clear interconnection between the physical, mental, and environmental components and the physical, and environmental components manifest themselves as anxiety and overthinking.
Stay tuned…. For upcoming tips….
