Overthinking

[lillymaya]

Hello lovely people, from whatever part of the world you are from I hope you are having or have had a great day. Recently I’ve been working through a patch of intense overthinking, from future, to friends, relationships and even worrying about overthinking, aka overthinking overthinking. I have had my battles and acceptance with anxiety in the past and present, so I have strategies in place and much knowledge. But I thought I’d be brave and try something different from my usual support. Basically what I’m trying to say is I would love to hear any advice, experiences, tips or tricks from anyone who has experienced anything similar. And ofcourse to whoever is reading this know that you are loved, and make this world better and more special simply by existing 😊

[white knight]

Hi, welcome

What a lovely post, thankyou.

Overthinking, dwelling etc is one trait I have and it was worse when younger (I'm 67yo).

Eg At 18yo in the Air Force I got in a fight. I left the military at 20yo but felt guilty about that fight so drove 3 hours to apologise to him and I was rejected. Fast forward 35 years in 2013 I saw his profile on social media and sent him yet another apology which resulted in me being blocked. My wife found this strange behaviour. I had been diagnosed with bipolar2, dysthymia  depression etc. But just last month it was suggested I might be on the autism spectrum high functioning and my wife and I read a book "the complete guide to Asperger's". I read about myself and those issues.

I digress, the point is that there is often a reason. Now in terms of your over thinking the best available tool apart from diagnosis and subsequent meds, is IMO- distraction. Try it, when over thinking a topic walk out and walk around the block... your eyes, nose, ears are all used in that simple task. Imagine the effect of doing a hobby or passion?

Relaxation can be a huge help. 

https://www.beyondblue.org.au/mental-health/relaxation-exercises

https://forums.beyondblue.org.au/t5/staying-well/depression-distraction-and-variety/td-p/275790 

Also visit your GP, you'll be surprised a tthe contacts they have with classes etc.

I hope that helps. Repost anytime

TonyWK

[BeePark]

Hi Lillymaya

Thanks for sharing, its always nice to see someone else who has a shared experience, so I do appreciate that.

So yes!! A terrible overthinker here too. 

I had a number of losses in my life, my anxiety and depression peaked and got my mental health plan through my GP. Met a few psychologists....(trying to find the perfect fit) all who kept telling me I was just overthinking everything. You may have already tried this, but I embarked on a journey with Meditation. Wow even I did not realise how 'switched on' my brain was (not in a good way LOL) ALL the time, just buzzing buzzing buzzing and over analysing and overthinking even the smallest things throughout the day until Meditation started to teach me to turn that part of my brain of...focus on myself or a certain thing....and if thoughts came, just acknowledge them and push them away. It really was a game changer for me. I do hypnosis as well (which is pretty much just deep meditation with someone repeating phrases such as 'you are safe' and so on) and that has been really helpful too. I thought this stuff was all a bit woo woo to be honest, but twice I ended up in Emergency having bad reactions to the meds that were supposed to help me. So there are apps you can use, like Headspace, Calm, Smiling Mind, and I follow on Youtube "The Anxiety Guy" who has short talks and a lot of different meditations that have also been helpful if you've not explored those avenues.

Came here myself today curious if others were experiencing the things I do...so thankyou....your just reaching out to find others with similar thoughts and feelings has really helped me too. I do appreciate it. 

Bel

[Fiatlux]

Hi Lillymaya,

I am a deep thinker.

Only my husband has accused me of being an over thinker and I believe that he doesn’t think at all.

Actually I think that I do the thinking for the both of us.

In the past I did the thinking for my children until they did their own thinking. Now I do a lot of thinking about them.

At this stage of my life I just go with the flow and try not to think at all. 🙏🏼