How to stop overthinking
Persistent overthinking in the form of worry and rumination can result in a wide range of symptoms such as insomnia, trouble concentrating, and in some cases, this can lead to anxiety or depression.
Overthinking starts with a ‘trigger thought’. It’s not the trigger thought in and of itself that causes unpleasant symptoms, It is the time you spend engaging in these thoughts, ruminating and worrying, that weighs you down.
While your trigger thoughts are completely automatic, you can learn to control whether or not you engage in a trigger thought. You can choose whether to ‘answer’ the thought and follow it up with more related thoughts – or just let it be.
One way of challenging the belief that overthinking is outside your control is to explore whether you’re able to postpone worries and ruminations. Set half an hour a day at a specific time where you can freely worry and ruminate.
It’s tempting to avoid situations that are likely to provoke trigger thoughts, but this is counterproductive. Instead, it’s better to practice letting go of your trigger thoughts.