Chronic overthing

[noharmstartingover]

20 years of chronic overthinking. Don't know how to break the habit.

It has gotten alot worse the last 6months. Don't know how to stop it.

The overthinking has led to some bad decisions and thoughts and plans on worse decisions.

Don't know how to stop it.

[Sophie_M]

Hey noharmstartingover, 

Thanks for reaching out today on the Beyond Blue forums. We're sorry to hear you're struggling with chronic overthinking and that it has become worse over the past 6 months. We know some of our community members have had similar struggles to what you have described and will hopefully be able to share their advice. 

If you feel up to it, we'd encourage you to reach out to our Beyond Blue Support Service, which is available 24/7 by phone on 1300 22 4636 or on Webchat 3pm-12am AEST on our website: www.beyondblue.org.au/getsupport. One of our friendly counsellors will be able to talk through these feelings with you and can offer support, advice and referrals. 

In addition to this, there are always counsellors available via phone for your most difficult moments. One of these 24/7 services includes Lifeline on ph 13 11 14 or via webchat which you can access through the link provided: https://www.lifeline.org.au/Get-Help/Online-Services/crisis-chat ( The online chat is available 7pm-12am). 

Thank you again for sharing your thoughts with us and we really hope we can provide a safe space for you to continue to share your story. 

[Katyonthehamsterwheel]

Hey there

No fun is it? Is it about certain things or just generally overthinking a lot of things? You haven't mentioned if you've received any professional help in the last 20 years? The first port of call would be your gp if you wanted to get some help, they can refer you to someone.

There are strategies that you can try on your own too. Different things work for different people, but meditation (you can get apps on your phone), journalling (getting your thoughts down on paper can help you work through them), and my friend recently gave me some tools that can help with challenging our thoughts (she uses them with counselling clients, but I imagine you could find some online).

If you're finding the thoughts are distressing or disrupting your ability to get on with your daily tasks, it might be best to speak to someone. As Sophie has mentioned, the Beyond Blue helplines can help refer you to someone, and are great to chat to.

You're always welcome to share more here also. There's plenty of people here happy to listen, and to try help.

Katy