Essentially, overthinking often boils down to a lack of trust in others due to being hurt or abandoned, past relational trauma, feeling insecure, or wanting to control things that are external from oneself.
While it's true to say that every teenage girl overthinks things from time to time, there is a significant number of teenage girls who can't help but engage in neurotic and excessive overthinking. Female teens such as these, suffer from waves of creeping thoughts that intrusively sneak into their psyche, leaving them ...
It's a common stereotype that is often humoured, but it turns out there is actually scientific backing to it. A study reported in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease has confirmed that women overthink more than men do, due to their brains having more activity.
Research shows that overthinking is prevalent among young (25-35-year-olds) and middle-aged adults (45-55-year- olds). Overthinking tends to be worse among women. And too much thinking can lead to mental health issues such as depression and anxiety, emotional distress, and self-destructive behaviours.
If thoughts about your crush have become that intrusive, it is likely you are suffering with limerence. This is a mental state of obsessive infatuation that is characterised by intrusive thoughts that you just can't seem to turn off.
In romantic relationships, overthinking gradually—day after day, month after month—can turn into a bad cognitive habit. It shortens our bandwidth for awareness, empathy, curiosity, and whatever is happening in our own hearts.
Sometimes it's helpful to have a way to distract yourself with happy, positive, healthy alternatives. Things like mediation, dancing, exercise, learning an instrument, knitting, drawing, and painting can distance you from the issues enough to shut down the overanalysis.
Overthinking can be an early indicator or symptom of depression, anxiety, and other mental health conditions. To stop overthinking, you can try challenging your thoughts, reaching out to loved ones for support, or talking to a mental health professional for extra help.
Relationships are hard, and relationships with overthinkers are even more incredibly hard. Overthinking may appear to be a simple problem, but it is far from it. Overthinkers may be difficult to date, but that doesn't make them bad people. However, a relationship with them is fraught with danger.
One of the main traits of an overthinker is that they do not want to be lied to. This means that you have to be genuine with them when you are with them. You shouldn't simply go through the motions when you speak with them. Always listen to what they say and tell the truth when they ask you questions.
Often, the best way to discover if you have a crush is to check in with yourself about how you feel. If you think about the person often, want to spend time with them, frequently wonder how they're doing, and are interested in knowing all of the details about this person and their life, it's likely a crush.
When you start thinking about someone else's desires and needs as much as your own, it's a pretty good sign that you are in love, Shaffer says. "You may not necessarily want the same things but when you are in love, you start thinking of the other person's perspective just as much as your own."
Although there are positive traits of an overthinker, such as patience, commitment, dedication, drive, and passion, overthinking also promotes stress, anxiety, self-consciousness, and lack of self-confidence. It can be difficult to find any mental peace when you're thinking about every situation.
Overthinking is patronizing a person, demeaning their thoughts and punishing them for thinking. There is no authoritative stance on the act of thinking, and there is no acceptable way of telling someone their thoughts are invalid.
Often overthinking is a byproduct of anxiety or depression. If this is the case, you can treat your anxiety or depression to reduce overthinking. You may also find that overthinking only materializes when you need to make a tough life decision or are dealing with your insecurities.
Take, for example, ADHD. While most people associate ADHD with hyperactivity and impulsivity, it can also manifest in more subtle ways, such as through intrusive thoughts and overthinking.
What drives this is underlying anxiety. Common forms include worrying, perfectionism, struggle with making decisions, and excessive control over yourself and others. Keys to coping include getting your rational brain online, using your gut reactions as important information, and taking acceptable risks.
While overthinking itself is not a mental illness, it is associated with conditions including depression, anxiety, eating disorders and substance use disorders. Rumination can be common in people who have chronic pain and chronic illness as well, taking the form of negative thoughts about that pain and healing from it.
No, overthinking isn't a recognized mental health condition, but it can be a symptom of depression or anxiety. Overthinking is commonly associated with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), says Duke. GAD is characterized by the tendency to worry excessively about several things.