World of an Overthinker.

Have you ever caught yourself overwhelmed by your own thoughts? Are you someone who stay awake at night worrying about anything?

Chances are you’re probably an overthinker.

“My brain has too many tabs open and won’t shut off,” an overthinker complains.

• I sometimes feel like it’s all my fault, but then I wonder if it was actually my fault.
• - I have a lot of “what if” scenarios running through my head.
• - I think extremely horrible or good things. When I’m in reality, I’m like, “How can I even think this?”
• - I keep reliving in my head what someone says or does that I don’t like. (Believe me when I say it’s sucks.)
• - I have a habit of replaying embarrassing events in my thoughts.
• - In my head, I replay interactions with people and consider all the things I wish I had said or didn’t say.
• - I jump onto thinking of having a wonderful future, to going into hell in coming time, within seconds.
• - I think of scnerios of getting my heart broken, losing someone close,or just simple stuff as they were all okay with me till the last , what made them leave, why they changed suddenly.
• - I’m having difficulties sleeping everyday because I can’t seem to get my brain to turn off.
• - I overthink my overthinking.

The list goes on.

I cry when I don’t want to.

We can’t let things go.

Why do I do this?

Because yes, shamefully I am a professional overthinker.

Quarantine is one hell of a ride for us over-thinker. I won’t be sleeping until 3am and wakes up at 10am with no energies left for the day even daily tasks drained me. I caught myself crying over a simple assignment cause I can’t seem to focus. I caught myself having an anxiety attack over a sudden thought that popped in my head. Severe conditions basically paralyzed us from doing anything.

As an over-thinker, every day, every instant of our existence, including sleep, we think. Even when we are not aware of it, our brains continue to work and form thoughts.

The more we gaze outside and are busy with the various things going on around us, the more we ignore the constant stream of thoughts inside our heads. In contrast, the more aware we are of what is going on in our inner world, the more insane we feel and the more overwhelmed we get by its strong forces.

We feel helpless to deal with it without an understanding of overthinking nature and the practice of calming our minds through. Our inner world is just as real as the reality around us. The more we stay in our inner world, the more oblivious we become to the outside world. Furthermore, our inner voice is far more powerful than our conscious voice since it has the ability to control our emotions and actions without our knowledge which potentially leads to future damages.

There are two risks associated with this. It can become mired in indecision, avoidance, and procrastination if you overthink crucial matters in your life. Spending time in deep reflection on relationships, health, work, self-identity concerns, and other topics is necessary, but spending too much time in one’s mind can be harmful. However, we all experience negative, intrusive ideas that should be ignored. Spending too much time thinking about these things might cause a lot of pain.

Overthinking and How to Stop It

1. Recognize your personal triggers. Even the most zealous overthinkers don’t always do it. Overthinking is probably more likely to be triggered by certain thoughts or issues. If you’re a worrier, for example, worrying about the future may cause you to overthink things. Whatever the case may be, it’s critical to understand the “hot spots” that cause you to overthink.

2. Keep an eye out for overthinking. You must be aware of when you are overthinking in order to lessen it. What are the indicators that you’re thinking too much? Is it when you’re trying to figure out what an obtrusive idea means when there’s no hidden meaning? Is it when you’re attempting to control or repress a thought too hard? Is it when the thought makes you feel scared or anxious? There may be other indicators that you’ve slipped into overthinking.

3. Accept it for what it is. You’ll never be able to stop overthinking as long as you think it’s valuable. Examine how you dealt with overthinking in the past and write down what worked. Was there any answer or revelation as a result of your overthinking? Was there a greater number of good or negative consequences associated to this?

4. Disengage. Over-engagement with unpleasant thoughts occurs when people are “too much in their heads.” Disengagement from the notion is the polar opposite. As a result, mindful acceptance, in which we witness but do not judge our unwelcome ideas, is the most effective technique to reduce overthinking. A second approach is focused distraction, in which we shift our attention to another train of thought or activity, without engaging in an attempt to resolve or understand the unwanted thought we’re overthinking.

Some people think more, while others think less. Some are reckless, while others are more concerned. Perhaps we might learn to enjoy rather than victimize it, especially when overthinking is accompanied by empathy rather than aggression. This is not to minimize the drawbacks of overthinking; it does make life more difficult. But labelling and constant calling out makes it worse. Constant advice to stop overthinking only makes the suffocation and internal heaviness harder for such people. Instead, it can be resolved to a large extent if we recognize it and respond with a little more care and a hug. Remember that it is warmth, kindness, and an extra embrace that make the world a better place.