Overthinkers Anonymous

northfresh
northfresh Posts: 111
in Chit-Chat
Well, sort of anonymous. (:

Hi, my name is Brandi and I'm an overthinker. (Hi Brandi!)

I often times obsess over small, irrelevant details and get stuck in my head. Sometimes it makes me anxious, snippy, and depressed.

Is anyone else here an overthinker? How do you deal with it? How do you pull yourself out of an overthought funk?
«1

Replies

  • whierd
    whierd Posts: 14,025 Member
    I'm more of an overexplainer.
  • northfresh
    northfresh Posts: 111
    I'm more of an overexplainer.

    Do explain ;)
  • whierd
    whierd Posts: 14,025 Member
    It means that I tend to overexplain things that I know a lot about. For instance, if someone engages me in personal finance I will start explaining my philosophies to them about not carrying debt and investing for retirement. Mutual funds are the way to go if you're looking for a stock market option, but I prefer real estate as the real money maker as it improves your cash flow as well as appreciates in value.
  • tadjo
    tadjo Posts: 41 Member
    don't know if I am or not, let me think about it...
  • blytheandbonnie
    blytheandbonnie Posts: 3,275 Member
    It means that I tend to overexplain things that I know a lot about. For instance, if someone engages me in personal finance I will start explaining my philosophies to them about not carrying debt and investing for retirement. Mutual funds are the way to go if you're looking for a stock market option, but I prefer real estate as the real money maker as it improves your cash flow as well as appreciates in value.

    ... and there he goes again... :yawn:
  • pwnderosa
    pwnderosa Posts: 280 Member
    I know the feeling. ;-)

    Last night I got a fortune cookie and it read "Never analyze unless it's absolutely necessary."

    It took about 30 seconds before I was overanalyzing the meaning of the cookie and wondering if it's not a good thing to ponder whatever we come upon and analyze it...isn't this what Einstein did?

    I find I feel really trapped when I get so busy I don't have time to think things through, maybe it's not that we are overthinking things, but that everyone else expects us to under-think stuff.

    Or am I overthinking this?
  • cicisiam
    cicisiam Posts: 491 Member
    EAT
  • kmm7309
    kmm7309 Posts: 802 Member
    I'm an overthinker. I combat it by taking a heavy course load at school. I work 30-40 hours a week and take 17 credits in college. That's how I combat it; if I'm thinking about spanish or anthropology, I'm not dwelling on my own problems :) You don't have to go to college to do this though-- before I was a college student I did extensive research on interesting topics just because. I especially liked moral and ethical dilemmas (like eugenics or cloning) because I could be analytically involved about something that I didn't have much control over.
  • Neets086
    Neets086 Posts: 60
    Guilty!! so so happy i'm not the only one ha ha

    I am EXACTLY the same, over analyse pretty much every aspect. Why did i do that? What if i had done this instead? What was that text suppose to mean? What am i doing with my life? well, you get the point..

    Anxiety/depression came along as i have the tendency to let all this buildup, then i have my little emotional outburst and i'm good.. until next time.

    But now, i take time out, talk to a close girlfriend (she goes through quite similar situations) take a look at the bigger picture, focus on one thing at a time. Eventually that sends me back into reality and i stop stressing.
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
    That's me! I used to drink to stop my brain from thinking. It worked, except it was a lot of extra calories and it started affecting my work and personal life.

    Now I just watch a movie or TV show to help slow down my brain. TV is better than booze I guess.
  • red0801
    red0801 Posts: 283 Member
    Guilty! Thats why i choose college courses no one understands anyway :-)
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
    I'm more of an overexplainer.

    I am this too! I end up saying, "And to make a short story long..."
  • triciab79
    triciab79 Posts: 1,713 Member
    I am an over thinker. I get paid to think of things that people who are much smarter than me didn't think of. I have to think of the most off the wall scenario and make sure the application can handle it. If your kids get vaccinations in one of the states I test you probably want me to remain an over thinker.
  • red0801
    red0801 Posts: 283 Member
    Seriously, I have found that if I meditate, I am less likely to overanalyze everything. I am also more likely to look at things as they are not as I project them to be good or bad.

    Here is one of the first guided meditations I ever used:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hBEkZDqduw&list=PLokQFHrQf10ZEqf04jU1Dv0wP9l3tHdXh
  • northfresh
    northfresh Posts: 111
    Seriously, I have found that if I meditate, I am less likely to overanalyze everything. I am also more likely to look at things as they are not as I project them to be good or bad.

    Here is one of the first guided meditations I ever used:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hBEkZDqduw&list=PLokQFHrQf10ZEqf04jU1Dv0wP9l3tHdXh

    Thank you, I've been interested in meditation for some time but have difficulty calming my mind and focusing
  • whierd
    whierd Posts: 14,025 Member
    I am more of a methodical thinker. I think things through to all foreseeable outcomes and do an internal "risk assessment" based on what could happen before making choices.
  • whierd
    whierd Posts: 14,025 Member
    It means that I tend to overexplain things that I know a lot about. For instance, if someone engages me in personal finance I will start explaining my philosophies to them about not carrying debt and investing for retirement. Mutual funds are the way to go if you're looking for a stock market option, but I prefer real estate as the real money maker as it improves your cash flow as well as appreciates in value.

    ... and there he goes again... :yawn:

    tumblr_lzln1uqkSk1qzlvmi.gif
  • CheriLMT
    CheriLMT Posts: 220 Member
    Okay..YES i am an overthinker...I have bipolar disorder...I do all my heavy thinking as I am trying to fall asleep to sometimes sends me into a manic episode where I don't sleep and my mind races for days at a time..it is very inconvenient...as far as fixing it...lots of medication :)
  • _noob_
    _noob_ Posts: 3,306 Member
    Well, sort of anonymous. (:

    Hi, my name is Brandi and I'm an overthinker. (Hi Brandi!)

    I often times obsess over small, irrelevant details and get stuck in my head. Sometimes it makes me anxious, snippy, and depressed.

    Is anyone else here an overthinker? How do you deal with it? How do you pull yourself out of an overthought funk?

    You are a woman, it is expected of you...all is forgiven.
  • jbutterflye
    jbutterflye Posts: 1,914 Member
    Ocd-3_zpsa575ad5d.jpg
  • pudadough
    pudadough Posts: 1,271 Member
    Oh god, me! I actually have been diagnosed with OCD officially, but even outside of that, I overthink even the simplest situations. It's exhausting. Shut up, brain!
  • BurtHuttz
    BurtHuttz Posts: 3,653 Member
    I used to overthink stuff because of anxiety but I started taking pills and . . . what was I saying? Ooh let's go lift weights!
  • Bdmiller42
    Bdmiller42 Posts: 149
    I used to overthink stuff because of anxiety but I started taking pills and . . . what was I saying? Ooh let's go lift weights!

    Same here! I had to drop the meds tho I called it my autopilot.I'd go whole day and be unsure what Ive done.
  • myofibril
    myofibril Posts: 4,500 Member
    I'm more of an overdrinker
  • TheVimFuego
    TheVimFuego Posts: 2,412 Member
    Despite my posting history I'd like to check in here.

    I deal with it using a cunning combination of cognitive behavioral therapy, meditation, selected application of various philosophical ideas and a shed load of red wine. ;)
  • Bdmiller42
    Bdmiller42 Posts: 149
    meditation and the occasional illegal bowl does it for me.
  • dad106
    dad106 Posts: 4,868 Member
    I'm def. an overthinker.. Esp when it comes to relationships.

    Drives me crazy!
  • aliciagetshealthy
    aliciagetshealthy Posts: 946 Member
    All day...every day.

    My overthinking is the mental equivalent of beating a dead horse...and I'll roll that horse over and beat the other side too, for good measure!

    What helps? Sometimes yoga...sometimes dancing, the music will take over my head for a while...sometimes writing/journaling.
  • TheRoadDog
    TheRoadDog Posts: 11,788 Member
    I go through life without putting too much thought into it. If it's important for me to be aware of, my wife will inform me.
  • northfresh
    northfresh Posts: 111
    Okay..YES i am an overthinker...I have bipolar disorder...I do all my heavy thinking as I am trying to fall asleep to sometimes sends me into a manic episode where I don't sleep and my mind races for days at a time..it is very inconvenient...as far as fixing it...lots of medication :)

    I am also diagnosed bipolar and understand the manic episodes. But I prefer the non-medicated route, just trying to work with myself and others through it. Like someone else in the thread mentioned I'd like to avoid the 'autopilot' feeling. Sometimes when something is nagging at your mind it needs to be changed... but sometimes its just the over thinking process lol.

Categories