What is ‘thinking?’
We’re all thinking, telling others what we’re thinking about, thinking about thinking, spotting others deep in thoughts and thinking out loud. WOAH, now that was some intense thinking.
But if you had to describe this phenomenon, would you be able to do it? Take a moment and think - what words would you use to explain this to yourself.
Thinking is defined as using our mind to produce ideas, images, decisions, memories etc. Scientists don’t exactly know where a thought begins and how it gets formed. There are various theories about it. Some say that neurons get fired, some state that there is no conscious thought and ideas keep flowing, while others argue that the brain learns patterns over time.
What is ‘overthinking?’
The idea of patterns is interesting because even if it doesn’t do justice to our understanding of thinking, it lends itself significantly to our understanding of overthinking. Overthinking is defined as running over a thought, memory, or situation multiple times, for long periods of time. It can be about the past or the future. While everyone overthinks from time to time, it is important to keep a check on how much energy you’re exhausting in a day, dwelling over things that are beyond your active control.
The line between thinking and overthinking can sometimes be blurry. Here are three major differences that’ll help you identify whether you’re thinking or overthinking:
- Purpose: The purpose of thinking is to help you make healthier choices and hence is goal-oriented. Overthinking is usually maladaptive, in your way and focuses on the problems instead of solutions.
- Decisions: When you think about a decision you weigh its pros and cons, are aware of the consequences and choose what is ‘good enough’. In overthinking, you are trying to search for the most perfect decision, and in doing so, you keep going over the choice you’ve made, re-hash it to see the negatives, magnify the positives of the alternative and find yourself second-guessing more than what you’d like.
- Control: You can exert control over your thoughts and re-direct it with little resistance. In overthinking, your level of control is diminished and you’re unable to redirect with ease. As much as you’d like to stop it, trying to do so creates a state of distress and psychological unease.
What are the types of overthinking?
Broadly, we’ve observed two kinds of overthinking: one where we’re ruminating about the past and another where we’re worrying about the future.
- Ruminating About The Past: Rumination is when you’re stuck in a loop of repeated negative thoughts or feelings. They are usually beyond your control. You tend to return to the situation or the original thoughts. You will find yourself focusing on the negative feelings, occurrences and situations, without focusing on solutions. Magnification of this kind of thinking plays a contributing role in depressive symptoms.
- Worrying About The Future: This is commonly known as ‘anticipatory anxiety’. While it is important to be concerned about the future, it becomes a part of overthinking when you are fixated on the small aspects, try to micromanage how it’ll all fall in place and don’t allow space for surprises or give yourself any space for being ‘wrong’.
What Can I Do To Help Myself?
The first step in navigating overthinking is to acknowledge that there might be an issue. Use the three identifiers mentioned above and assess how much time you’re spending either in the past or future. Based on those, here are five simple times to help you overcome overthinking:
- Be Present: We’ve seen that overthinking is mostly in the past or future. Re-direct your attention to what is happening in the present - either by writing it down or saying it out loud. This provides cues to your brain to refocus.
- Worry Time: Schedule some time to ‘worry, ruminate, overthink’. Even doing this for 10 minutes in a day tells your mind that you are not leaving something unaddressed, but rather will be giving it dedicated time and space.
- Trigger Identification: Take some time to identify your triggers. See what are your thinking patterns, if are there people around whom it gets worse, does it happen at a particular time etc. Keeping a track of these will prepare you so that you can eventually challenge it
- Reclaim Power: Ask your rumination and worries questions, ask it for proof, provide it with different evidence and have a dialogue with your overthinking. A lot of times we keep going in a loop without questioning it, giving the thought more power.
- Personal Plan: Sometimes it helps to have another person detangle your thoughts, give you scientifically-backed strategies and create a plan that is personalized to you. Don’t be afraid to seek help and speak to a trained psychologist.
Overthinking is something that happens over time so don’t try to beat it in a day. Be patient with yourself and know that with consistency, you’ve got this!