In today’s age, everything is being done to an extreme, from overstimulating oneself through social media, gaming, shopping, activities, to overworking, to over thinking, and so on. In an age of excess, it is hard to even identify when we are doing something too much. It’s only when something crosses our already warped threshold of being overwhelmed, do we recognize it as a problem. But thinking too much, or over thinking is a very common issue that people face and complain about. The usual complains are- “I can’t stop thinking about XYZ” “My mind doesn’t stop at times” “I need my head to be quiet but it doesnt” “I couldn’t sleep because I was thinking about XYZ” and so on. We all have experienced this from time to time. But just like anything else, when we don’t know how to effectively stop it or end up suppressing our thoughts, it backfires and in fact reinforces the habit of over thinking.
The effects of Over thinking are a-plenty, and are short term as well long term. Over thinking, ruminative thinking causes increases stress levels, anxiety, depressed mood, difficulty in sustaining attention, poor performance at work, difficulty in decision making, problem solving, gives rise to fear, irritability and a general unmanageability of emotions. Over thinking affects the body too, by continuously raising cortisol levels that combat stress and weakening the immune system indirectly. The stress and consistent underlying anxiety has profound effects on the digestive, endocrine and cardiovascular systems. So it’s imperative to understand why we over think so we can slowly start to reduce it down. Let’s look at some of the reasons behind this mental phenomenon so we can understand it better.
- You have difficulty staying present
You find it tough to stay centered in the present moment unless you are doing something that really requires your attention such as mental tasks at work, intensive exercise, etc. At other moments you are not attending to the task such as bathing, brushing, driving or walking and are lost in your thoughts or absent minded. You treat the present moment only as a stepping stone to the next, to the future, to get stuff done. That can easily slip into over thinking as you are always living through your mind and not in reality, with full awareness.
- You take all your thoughts too seriously
You give a lot of importance to all or most thoughts that enter your mind. You don’t tend to call out your useless or unnecessary thoughts. The value placed on so many thoughts can make you a slave to them, especially when they’re of negative, intrusive nature. Resulting in over involvement with thinking.
- Metacognition is weak
Metacognition is the ability to cognise or think about your thoughts, their content, nature, quality and your relationship with the thoughts. When you can understand that you don’t have to respond to each thought, you can let go of a thought and change your response to some thought patterns, you will be better able practice Metacognition. Writing helps with improving Metacognition. When it is weak, you identify with all thoughts, leaving no space for introspection and over thinking comes easily to you.
- You believe that you can think your way out of every negative emotion
The mind is a great tool. But your thoughts are transitory and temporary. To think your way out of a negative state of mind is possible and many of us do it. But it can’t be done all the time and sometimes lands us in a downward spiral of thoughts of feelings. Watching your emotions and thoughts without the need to resolve them is an efficient way to process them. The watching itself pulls you out of the loop of negative thoughts and feelings. Believing that thoughts have the answer is not always helpful.
- You seek control in most situations
We are not okay with uncertainty, with things going awry, and have little or no acceptance when this happens to us. Seeking control in all situations is a natural tendency when we cannot accept a position of not having control. To be okay with circumstances that are beyond us, is a sign of a mind at peace. Over thinking comes from this excessive control seeking and resistance to the present as it is. Even when situations are difficult and we have to act on them, internal acceptance is still possible and can greatly reduce the impulse to over think.
These are some of the common and deep rooted reasons for over thinking. There may be many more unconscious patterns that we are not aware of that differ from person to person. When it comes to seeking treatment for addiction or other mental health issues, our team of experts at ZorbaWellness Rehabilitation center applies Cognitive Behavioral therapy, Motivational Enhancement therapy, Dialectical behavior therapy and many other approaches. All of these utilize the tools of the mind to overcome addiction, compulsive behavior, anger issues, depression, anxiety, etc. Over thinking or the inability to detach from some patterns of thought is a common issue in multiple issues that people face. Using these therapies directs our thought and emotion patterns and helps us act with more awareness. Addiction coupled with anxiety issues usually benefits a lot from these therapies and integrates a sense of confidence that one is not a slave to their cravings, impulses and emotions. Being a slave to the mind or being the master of it is a conscious choice that one can practice.
-Aashna Namle