How To Stop Overthinking X Mental Health Monday

It's normal to worry about things but if it's becoming part of your everyday life then you're definitely overthinking and at some point it will cause anxiety disorder. Overthinking can consume you, it can get pretty dark, destroying your hopes and dreams and even stopping you from doing things that are actually of benefit to you because the worrying or anxiety caused by worrying is so strong. Overthinking can be difficult to spot when you're doing it, other people may tell you and you may not totally understand how so because to you you're just thinking things over, processing the possibilities to prepare yourself (this is a trauma response) but this isn't actually helpful for your mental health. The longer you spend focusing on the worrisome possibilities (aka overthinking) and the more frequently you do it, the more chance it has to become ingrained in your brain to do so whereby it's a natural reaction to overthink, in any scenario which eventually can spiral into always assuming worst case scenario will take place, which is mega dangerous for your mental health because it could cause psychosis. It's important to remember there is a difference  between worrying what could happen (Overthinking) and being convinced the worry will happen (Ruminating); Ruminating frequently can lead to/be a sign of psychosis! 

If you resonate with the above paragraph in regards to assuming worst case scenario will happen, know that self help information may not totally fix the problem and guidance from a cognitive behavioural therapist would be required to find healing, strategies to cope and prevention tactics but there are huge waiting lists so in the mean time here's what I learn't from therapy about how to stop overthinking. 

You've gotta interrupt the cycle of worry by acknowledging how you're feeling and name it to tame it. You can do this in a few ways you can either name the mindset like Negative Nancy's back as this separates it from yourself meaning it's more manageable or name the emotion state(s) you're feeling such as overwhelmed and/or anxious. You could also try an anxiety based technique to interrupt the cycle this would be things like name 5 things you can see or focusing your energy into your feet and then slowly working your way up all the body parts till you reach your head then imagine it leaving your head, take a deep breath and begin to do the 4 by 4 breathing technique (breathe in for 4 seconds, hold for 4 seconds, breathe out for 4 seconds and hold for 4 seconds) repeat a few times and go back to regular breathing - you should be feeling a lot calmer. Try distract yourself by doing something different like going to make a cuppa/food or moving to a different location like a different room or go for a walk. 

If the worries come back allow yourself 5-10 mins to understand what the worries are and then write them all down instead of keeping them circling in your head; you can later go over them by creating a table chart with a few title sections such as what you're worried about, evidence for and evidence against the worry happening and what's the best that could happen in the situation. It's okay if this seems a little complicated just try fill in what you can...this is why a therapist is required because they'll train you to be able to create rational counterarguments to the worry. The counterargument would be evidence against it happening and what's the best that could happen instead. There are plenty of other title sections you could include in the table for managing the overthinking/anxiety but these seemed like the best ones for beginners; A therapist would be able to provide worksheets most appropriate for your needs but if you don't have a therapist yet try use the title sections I've suggested.

If you're prone to overthinking please limit the amount of time spent on social media or watching the news, both are triggers for creating worries to overthink about. Instead try activities such as listening to music, exercise, reading or (art) journalling. I recommend art journalling because you can release the thoughts and emotions in a healthy way, which results in them not building up as quickly meaning your mind is less racing with worries and your emotional health is on a good level.

Try be self compassionate as being fearful of the worries is a hard place to be at, be kind to yourself reassure yourself that you can and will be okay life's like a heartbeat it goes up and down; we all have shitty stuff to face but deal with it when you're crossing that bridge not before as it may never occur and then you've basically tortured yourself for nothing. In the event that it does occur focus on finding a solution even if that's just soothing yourself or reaching out to others for support. 

If you try these tips let me know in the comments, how did it go? :)

Till next time,

Stevie x