Have you had a recent experience where you were overthinking and delayed an important decision you needed to make. Or you got into a repetitive thinking mode and ended up unable to sleep a good part of the night?
Welcome to the club of overthinkers.
The disease of overthinking
Overthinking is a modern day disease and most of us suffer from it. It is possible that many of us may not even know that we have this disease.
Now you may ask, how is overthinking a disease? Anything that makes us weak and tired and affects our work, our self-esteem, our health, our relationships, our mind…… Well, isn’t that a disease?
Understanding what overthinking is, and how it works, will go a long way in helping us overcome this disease.
Let's start by understanding what overthinking is.
Overthinking is thinking over and over again about:
- A situation
- A sequence of events
- A conversation
- A future course of action
When we think again and again about the same situation or event, we are reliving that situation and expanding it to what it is not. By overthinking we may have distorted the original situation completely out of proportion.
While it’s human nature to think things through when making a decision or evaluating a situation, it becomes overthinking when you can’t get out of your own head. It happens to all of us at some point in our lives – we all experience events that cause us worry or stress.
Whether you’re a chronic over-thinker or you need to make a tough decision, you’ve probably experienced sleepless nights when your brain just won’t turn off.
Overthinking can lead to depression, cloud our judgement and increase our stress levels.
Even young children are now starting to overthink and their worries maybe about parents or friends or about teachers.
We have teenagers overthinking about how their friends would react. We have parents worried about their children's future or their behavior.
Adults overthink frequently about a host of issues ranging from health to relationships to economy.
It never ends…….
Unless you decide to end it.
Remember,
Whatever you hold in your mind on a consistent basis is exactly what you will experience in your life
When we change our mindsets, our thinking patterns, we get a better grip on what is going on in our head.
In upcoming articles, I will share more about what we can do to stop our overthinking patterns. Stay tuned.
If you are struggling with overthinking and would like to know how to deal with it, schedule a 30 minute free consult with me.