Why Do People Overthink?

There are two kinds of people around us. First are the spontaneous ones, the ones who make their decisions and act on it immediately. And then there are over-thinkers, the ones who will think about something for such a long time and often end up not making any decision at all. It is basic human nature to think about every aspect before coming to a decision but that turns overthinking when you can’t get out of your own head. It often starts with you having troubles making big decisions and soon you start to overthink every decision you take.

WHY DO PEOPLE OVERTHINK?

Overthinking is the rot cause of many problems such as depression and anxiety. If we think about the future, the past and all the other things that are not in our control , our mind is bound to go in a spiral leaving us feeling anxious and depressed. There are genuine psychological reasons as to why people tend to overthink everything. Some of the common reasons include:

• HABIT OF WORRYING: People who develop the habit of worrying about every little detail early in their life become textbook over-thinkers later on. The worry could be about their household situation or some situation at school and this habit turns into bigger worries over time.
• STRUGGLE TO MAKE DECISIONS: It is generally believed that the more you think about something, the better would be the decision. However, this might not always be the case. Over-analyzing is actually a barrier in decision making. Soon you will find yourself struggling to make everyday decision like what to eat and this is a huge waste of time and energy as well.
• PERFECTIONIST: People who are not satisfied with mediocre work and do everything perfectly are more likely to be over-thinkers. In order to make a simple decision, they will mull it over in their mind a thousand times. It is a great way of distracting yourself because if you convince yourself that there’s more you need to do, that means there’s more you need to think about. And this doesn’t make you feel inadequate and imperfect. If you don’t try to handle this insecurity, you will not be able to move on.
• PAST DECISIONS: This is one of the major reasons that leads to overthinking. Your bad and impulsive decisions of the past force you to take every step carefully and you start to second guess every aspect of it. You don’t even realize when this turns you into a blown over-thinker.
• Some of the other reasons that triggers overthinking include having trouble going to sleep, reliving past mistakes, reliving all the embarrassing memories, asking “what if” questions, finding hidden meaning in things people say to you, or constantly rehearsing conversations in your mind so that you sound smart and don’t say the wrong thing.

The sense of control we try to earn by over-analyzing every situation can be very harmful for our mental health. We need to get a hold over our thoughts. The fear that we are trying to fight with overthinking is actually penetrating further in our minds rather than leaving it. Overthinking might not be all bad but it is always better to get control over your thoughts before the mind goes into a spiral.

(Stay tuned for Part-2)