What is Over-Thinking?

When faced with a major decision — such as choosing a university, switching careers, buying a car, or getting married or divorced — most people think long and hard about all the potential outcomes. This makes a lot of sense. A major expense or life change warrants thoughtful, thorough consideration.

But sometimes you might find it hard to stop turning certain thoughts over and over in your mind. You may dwell on even tiny choices and wonder about what-ifs so much that you become frozen with inaction. Experts call this overthinking.

It’s normal to get too “in your head” sometimes. But chronic overthinking can start to interrupt your sleep, work, relationships, health, and other aspects of your everyday life.

Overthinking — also referred to as rumination — is when you repetitively dwell on the same thought or situation over and over to the point that it disrupts your life. Overthinking usually falls into two categories: ruminating about the past and worrying about the future.

If you’re struggling with overthinking, you may feel “stuck” or unable to take any action at all. It can be hard to get the thoughts out of your mind or concentrate on anything else.

Overthinking can be a hard habit to break. You might even convince yourself that thinking about something for a really long time is the key to developing the best solution. But that’s usually not the case.

In fact, the longer you think about something, the less time and energy you have to take productive action. Plus, thinking about all the things you could have done differently, second-guessing your decisions, and continuously imagining worst-case scenarios can be exhausting.

Overthinking involves thinking about a certain topic or situation excessively, analysing it for long periods of time. When you overthink, you have a hard time getting your mind to focus on anything else. It becomes consumed by the one thing you are thinking about.

While some people believe that overthinking may be helpful since it involves looking at an issue or problem from nearly every viewpoint possible and anticipating future events, the opposite is true. Research suggests that overthinking is associated with feelings of depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Everyone overthinks sometimes. Maybe you keep thinking about all the things that could go wrong when you give your presentation next week, or you’ve wasted countless hours trying to decide what to wear to your upcoming job interview.

Finding ways to put an end to overthinking can help you take action in your life versus simply thinking about things that are bothering you. Instead of going over something in your mind again and again, you can start to take the steps necessary to resolve the situation.

Key takeaways:

· Overthinking is when you dwell on or worry about the same thing repeatedly.
· People who overthink can be paralyzed by their worries and may struggle to make decisions or take action.
· Overthinking can be caused by — and contribute to — depression, anxiety, and other mental health disorders.