"Studies show that ruminating on stressful events can, over time, lead to anxiety and depression," warns Dr. Fowler. "From a mental health standpoint, anxiety can affect your ability to cope with everyday stressors, and depression results in sadness, loneliness and feelings of emptiness."
Dwelling on your mistakes, problems and shortcomings increases your chances of being affected by mental health problems. Overthinking can set you up for a vicious cycle that is hard to break. It wreaks havoc on your mental peace and as you lose your peace of mind, you tend to overthink.
Illness anxiety disorder may be associated with: Relationship or family problems because excessive worrying can frustrate others. Work-related performance problems or excessive absences. Problems functioning in daily life, possibly even resulting in disability.
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.
The Dangers Of Overthinking
It can take a serious toll on your well-being. Research says dwelling on your shortcomings, mistakes, and problems increases your risk of mental health problems. And as your mental health declines, your tendency to ruminate increases, which can lead to a vicious cycle that is hard to break.
Overthinking can put you under constant stress and stress can increase levels of cortisol, which can wear down your brain's ability to function properly. It can even kill brain cells and reduce the size of the brain.
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.
"When the body cannot handle emotional overload, it simply begins to shut down. And that is often manifested by a sense of extreme tiredness and fatigue," says Kalayjian.
One part of the body affected by anxiety and stress is the nervous system, which plays a primary role in basic functions like memory and learning. As a result, persistent anxiety and memory loss are associated.
In addition, medications originally designed for depression, the SSRIs (Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft, Lexapro, Effexor, Cymbalta, and others), are also capable of lowering the underlying level of anxiety which takes a lot of steam out of this phenomenon.
Two Types of Overthinking
Overthinking often involves ruminating about the past and worrying about the future. Overthinking isn't the same as healthy problem-solving. Problem-solving consists of thinking about a difficult situation when necessary. Overthinking, on the other hand, involves dwelling on the problem.
The following physical signs may indicate that stress is negatively impacting your health: increased tension (e.g., jaw clenching) increased pain (e.g., migraine headaches or back pain) increased soreness (e.g., chronic neck, back, or shoulder pain)
Overthinking can put your brain and body into negative stress, which can result in feelings of anxiety, depression and fear, and may even cause panic attacks.
Research shows how stress can lead to heart attacks and stroke. Feeling constantly stressed could increase your risk of heart and circulatory disease, according to news coverage.
Like with emotional detachment, mental detachment is simply a coping mechanism to extreme stress. Your mind and body are under such intense stress with panic attacks that your brain decides to simply shut everything down for a while. It's not dangerous nor does it mean anything about your mental health.
Summary: Pathological anxiety and chronic stress lead to structural degeneration and impaired functioning of the hippocampus and the PFC, which may account for the increased risk of developing neuropsychiatric disorders, including depression and dementia.
Anxiety disorders can cause rapid heart rate, palpitations, and chest pain. You may also be at an increased risk of high blood pressure and heart disease. If you already have heart disease, anxiety disorders may raise the risk of coronary events.
Feeling heightened emotions or like you're unable to control your emotions can come down to diet choices, genetics, or stress. It can also be due to an underlying health condition, such as a mood disorder or hormones.
This can be emotional or physical. We may feel toxic stress when we face strong, frequent, or prolonged challenges. These can include abuse, neglect, violence, or substance use in the home. These experiences can trigger our body's stress response. This response floods our body with "fight or flight" chemicals.