Tag: overthinking

ANXIETY A GROWING PROBLEM

Anxiety a problem faced by millions in the world. Some know about it; others are not even aware of it. They are suffering it all alone. Some suffer with minor, others with major anxiety to the extent that they even try to take away their own life.

What is anxiety ?

So, let’s first know what anxiety is? This is really important to know what anxiety actually means, because there are many who are suffering from it, but are not even aware of it.

Anxiety in simple sense means having worry, fear in some stressful or tensed situation, which is normal. But when somebody experiences it on a daily basis in an intense and excessive manner on small-small things, is actually suffering from anxiety disorder. And this is a very severe disorder to the extent that people are not able to overcome it and end up taking their lives.

Cause

The main causes of anxiety disorder are:

  • Not Living in Present : the first and in most of the cases it is caused to youngsters because of the uncertainty and worry about their future. Their worry rises day by day, and it grows to become a disorder.
  • Expectations: the other cause is worry of not being up to the mark of their expectations or having over-expectations.
  • Results : worry about result is another cause.
  • Thinking negative : what ever they think they are always seeing it negatively.
  • Overthinking : another main cause is overthinking. They keep on thinking about one thing and their mind goes on to think of other related things with it. And ultimately they go into so much deep thinking that they themselves don’t realize.
  • Hopelessness : they become hopeless and think they are of no worth to the world.
  • Being altruistic : it simply means always thinking what others or the world would think about them, which makes them more nervous.

These we some of the causes their might be other reasons too. But now we should look at the solution, because for every problem their is a solutions as every night has a day.

Solutions

  • Start to Live in Present : the first and foremost thing is to start living in the present. Don’t worry about the future as that is not in your hand; what you have is the present just live in the present.
  • Stop Expecting: the other thing is that do not expect anything from time(future) or anyone, because you are disheartened only when you have expection. When you do not expect anything, then whatever you get you are satisfied with it.
  • Don’t worry about results : Stop worring about results as it is not in your hand, just leave it ot God, everything will be fine. You just do your work and don’t worry about the result (hindi saying : karm Kar phal ki chinta mat kar).
  • Think positively : try to be positive as being negative never helps. And just think it yourself as even if you are negative what ever the destiny has decided it will happen. Just keep one thing in your mind whatever happens happens for good (joh hota hai achhe ke liye hota hai).
  • Do Yoga : the one of the most effective way to calm your mind is doing Yoga. By doing yoga you to try to make balance between your mind and body. Try to meditate. Whenever any negative thoughts comes to your mind just stop, what ever you are doing and do simple yoga. Watch videos on internet. Try to divert your mind.
  • Don’t worry about what people think : just keep in mind that, whatever you do, you do it for yourself and not to get somebody’s remark or happiness, it’s for you. Just do whatever you like, don’t let them affect you as it’s not worth it because they have no importance in your life.
  • Stop overthinking : when every you realize that you are getting trapped in your endless thinking, just keep everything aside and immediately stop thinking, just take two deep breath and try to relax yourself. And try to remember all the above points, you will feel relaxed.
  • Take a nap : just take a nap if you are feeling stressed.

Just try it once. If then too you are not feeling well, then please do contact a psychiatrist or any friend or your parents or anyone close to you to share your feelings with them. And be positive.

THINKING ABOUT OVERTHINKING

INTRODUCTION

‘Overthinking,’ otherwise called ‘Rumination,’ is the direct interaction of reasoning or agonizing over specific circumstances in our day-to-day existence. It is a cycle that continually connects with our brain to think, break down, and replay the most particular events. This interaction is a ‘monotonous system’ utilized by our brain to cause stress and tension.

Overthinking is a stage in everybody’s life when we deliberately or unknowingly will, in general, harp unreasonably just on the negative parts of our life. This steady back-and-forth circumstance between events, humiliating occasions that occurred in our past versus the tension and the sensation of vulnerability we have concerning our future. An ‘overthinker’ in a circumstance of rumination feels powerless and defenseless about their existence, the present. As it were, overthinking keeps us from making a move and having authority over the choices concerning our present. It, at last, places us in an endless loop of thoroughly considering and on and on.

WHY OVERTHINK?

We as a whole had a lot of humiliating and discouraging minutes in our day-to-day existence. There have been various occasions when we have been totally lost in our considerations, feeling empty inside or contemplating the choices we made in our lives. This may have influenced us badly and furthermore constrained our brain to overthink. Factors like dread, despondency, uneasiness, stress, feeling remorseful or lamenting, or even cultural assumptions and pressing factors can debase our brain.

Since the beginning, there is a ton of pressing factors that we go through regarding the decisions that we need to make in our lives. What’s more, we are continually censured and judged on the off chance that we neglect to meet those assumptions. For example, an understudy planning for the twelfth board test goes through many mental and enthusiastic pressing factors that his/her brain imparts a dread of uncertainty and disappointment. They are continually agonizing over questions, for example, “Imagine a scenario where I don’t score well?”, “Can I take affirmation for my ideal course?” or “Consider the possibility that I come up short in my tests.”. The Mind amasses every one of the negative considerations about tests and joins it with the dread of disappointment. This can prompt extreme overthinking in the brain of the understudy that eventually, they fear disappointment.

Feeling remorseful and lamenting over the choices that we made in our life additionally adds to overthinking. We continually dissect and yet scrutinize ourselves and fill our breeze with “Consider the possibility that.”. Hence, our psyche places this load of negative pictures into our heads and leads us to overthink. An extremely horrendous mishap from our past is additionally liable for overthinking. The abrupt deficiency of somebody or even a bombed relationship/kinship can trigger our psyche to overthink. When we think about our past, our psyche ruminates every upsetting occasion that led to injury. Consequently, divert our brain from overthinking.

THE HEART AND BRAIN BATTLE

The human brain has an exceptionally intricate yet captivating construction. It controls every one of our musings, our discernments, our cognizance, and our recollections. Although it is an exceptionally amazing organ, it is equipped for obliteration and can be risky. Overthinking is certainly a significant ‘segment’ and one of the significant manifestations of a restless and discouraged psyche.

Our brain is the principal guilty party behind overthinking. It has the best capacity to ‘attack’ the energy and cheerfulness in this very circumstance. It can overwhelm our hearts and hence oversee our inner voice. There ejects a predicament between our heart, the exemplification of steady choice, and our psyche that emanates distrust and pessimism. In any case, as opposed to accepting our hearts, we are fairly drawn to our psyche. This is the force our brain uses over the heart and fools us into trusting its ‘monotonous instrument.’ As appropriately said by Leah Braemel, “Don’t overthink things. At times you can persuade your head not to pay attention to your heart. Those are choices you lament for the remainder of your life.” Hence our brain being ‘the saboteur,’ begins flooding our contemplations with cynicism. It begins reeling every one of the disagreeable recollections and horrendous choices…

The exceptionally fundamental truth that we don’t understand in a period of overthinking is about our present. It causes us to fail to remember our existence. The brain ruminates our contemplations in such a way that it might even prompt existential emergency. We will, in general, question ourselves, our values, and our reality. In this manner, it is fundamental that we follow the musicality of our heart, the right inner voice, as opposed to the psyche. On the off chance that we can overwhelm our brain, overseeing our overthinking contemplations is feasible to a degree.

STOP OVERTHINKING

As stressed before, we oversee our brain. Overthinking also has its own upsides and downsides. The experts being overthinking and consistent rumination sets us up for each sort of conceivable outcome that we make us. We are all the while ready for the great just as the most exceedingly awful. It gives more opportunity to comprehend and examine our considerations. It allows us an opportunity to think about our choices and act as needs are. Be that as it may, clearly, overthinking likewise prompts despondency, tension issues, and fits of anxiety.

The consistent vulnerability and pessimism identified with overthinking may likewise prompt dread. It can seriously influence our certainty and makes us ill-equipped to ponder our existence. Overthinking settles on us to question our choice and, in this manner, influences our psychological prosperity. It diverts us from zeroing in on our present and makes us brood over our past horrendous accidents. It likewise makes us actually idle, depletes our energy, and unleashes destruction on our passionate wellbeing.

OVER-THINKING (Part-1)

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)

Overthinking (The Beauty and the Beast)

Mannat Sandhu

“Rule number one is, don’t sweat the small stuff. Rule number two is, it’s all small stuff.”
– Robert Eliot

Now imagine this , after a tiring day at work , you’re finally getting to sleep on that oh so soft mattress of yours. But wait , the moment you’re ready to surrender yourself to 6 hours of sleep ( if you’re lucky ! ) , you suddenly remember, “Did I turn off the gas stove ?” ” What if the entire house just explodes and there I am dreaming about how I am going to answer the questions at Koffee with Karan ( yes I also have a struggle to talk about ! ), and many such more fake,over the top scenarios are being flashed in front of your eyes.

Over-thinking Cartoons and Comics - funny pictures from CartoonStock

THE BEAST

This constant feeling of your head being constantly overburdened with unwanted thoughts, the ones you’re being involuntarily surrendered to , is my friend ,the beast.Often you put yourself under a lot of pressure , and you consider yourself responsible for every little thing happening around you. You overthink about a situation to such an extreme extent , that you’re no longer able to differentiate between reality and delusion.You want to stay in the reality but at the same time have one foot dangling in the realm of delusion.

Its that constant battle in your head between trying to stay the same and trying to stay sane.

THE BEAUTY

Sometimes thinking about any particular situation, whether in the past or future, helps you give a different perspective towards it and life as a whole.I mean the fact that Newton really over thought about a fallen apple, was pretty useful.But the key is to know when to stop.

I often think about a saying by Sylvia Plath

If i didn’t think, I’d be much happier.

and most of the times I resonate with it so much.This beautiful brain of yours which holds this massive power of creativity and imagination often turns into this beast you never could’ve expected.

THE PANACEA

1.Meditation

If I tell you that meditation is going to help you, I’d be only 50% correct. Just because you sit down, cross your legs and close your eyes , does not mean that you’re meditating; because your mind is still at loggerheads with your thoughts.So to begin with, whenever you feel like you need to calm down , take a deep breath and try to clear your mind. Then slowly try to give your mind enough space to breathe ( Yes it needs to! ). I know its easier said than done , but hey you got to begin somewhere.

2. Binge watch something

Well, well well..if it isn’t the solution to all our problems. I’m not even going to lie how many times I’ve resorted to this option ! And i just love it. Even if it temporarily helps you to distract your mind, then go for it.

3. Walk it out

Whether on your terrace, in your verandah or outside in a park, there’s nothing a quiet peaceful walk cannot solve .

4. Sleep it off

Sometimes i just feel ,I use this option as an excuse to get out of everything.

Feeling stressed ; Go to sleeep

Don’t feel like doing anything ; Go to sleep

There’s a fire ; Go to sl….NO WAIT..Buddy you got to run!

Maybe you’ll be at the same stage after you wake up , but hey at least you got a few hours of peaceful sleep, and boy that’s rare.

5. Call a friend

Sometimes talking to a friend really helps you either find a solution or help you take your mind off it.And if you don’y feel comfortable , you can seek professional help or contact at the official helplines.

Overthinking does not sound like a disorder , but don’t wait for it to become one.

6. Let go off things you cannot control

The most difficult one on the list yet the most effective. Take a minute and ask yourself, will I be able to do something to solve the situation,

If yes ; then work on a solution.

If no ; then remind yourself,

It is not your job to be everything to everyone.

– Paulo Coelho ( The Pilgrimage )

A penny for your thought ? If only it was a penny for every time I over thought, I’d be a millionaire, no wait a billionaire, no wait…you know what let me just go think about it.

Overthinking

This article is for people who overthink the fact that they overthink. Overthinking is thinking the same thought on repeat till it mentally drains us. We may fall into an endless trap of overthinking and overanalysing every single situation in our lives. 

Overthinking makes even the smallest of things in our lives get complicated. for example: instead of going out with a friend and enjoying the moment we could end up overthinking every aspect of that day.

We tend to spend a lot of time thinking about our emotions. They may be the emotions of jealousy, hurt, anger, sadness, grief, etc. It is good to acknowledge our emotions but not get trapped in them.

Different people overthink different things. Some are stuck in their past, some worry about their future, some overthink about the people in their lives. Overthinking puts us in a dark place where we only keep thinking for hours and days without doing anything. We keep replaying questions like:

 “what if people don’t like me”

“Do I even have friends”

“I should have done this in the past”

“will I ever be able to be successful”

“What if I fail in life”

“why can’t I do this”

What we don’t understand is how irrelevant these thoughts are and how they consume our time and energy. Our past is gone, even if we want to change it we cannot. What we can change is our present and that will happen by not entertaining these thoughts.

The future is yet to come and is determined by our actions in the present. For a small example: if I do an internship in my present, it will help me in the future.

So things are still in our control and we don’t have to overthink so much.

Did you know it is our thoughts that control our actions?

If before going to a job interview you think about things like

“what if they don’t like me”

 “what if I mess it up”

 “what if I say the wrong things”

 Chances are they actually might not like you. The people conducting your interview would sense that you are not confident in yourself and would want to hire a person who believes in themselves.

Did you know many companies also give jobs based on confidence? Because every organization needs confident employees who believe in themselves.

Another thing a lot of people do is overthink even when they know the solution to it. Instead of thinking about why you keep getting bad marks in a subject may be giving the extra time, you spend thinking to study that subject could actually help you.

I used to overthink a lot of things in my life. It used to be about things that I wasn’t able to control. But, thinking about them did nothing but exhaust me mentally. Now I don’t entertain any negative thoughts which would cause me to overthink. I now try to work towards the things I want in my life instead of debating whether I will be able to do it or not. We need to stop saying things like “I can’t do it” and replace them with “I can”.

Human beings have the power to think. It is the brains of humans that made us reach the moon. Now, what I want you to understand is that every human being is as powerful as the person who came up with the smartest invention. But, it is on us what types of thoughts we entertain.

The more productive things a person thinks about the more successful and mentally strong they will be in their lives.

SHOR IN THE CEREBRAL CORTEX

The Krakatoa volcanic eruption in Indonesia created the loudest sound ever reported at 180 dB in the year 1883. Do you know what’s louder than that? My mind thinking, producing thoughts faster than the blink of an eye. ‘Writer must be some mad scientist solving scientific equations in her brain’, one might think. On the contrary, the equations my brain analyses are the thousand possibilities of one single situation.

Everyone is looking at me. They are talking about me. Is it my hair? Is it the shirt I’m wearing? I think the world knows about that one time when I mispronounced the word ‘laminate’ as ‘lemonade’ in 6th grade. This is it. Life gave me lemons and the lemonade I made is SOUR.

An organ made of soft tissues and approximately two clenched fists in size has the power to make and break one’s life is a big accusation on our Brains. But who is to be blamed then?

I would like to someday adopt a Fish and a Cat and a Dog. But what if the cat eats the fish and the dog chases the cat and then they all flee my house and I’m left alone with my thoughts again. You would call it unnecessary paranoia and you would be right. I don’t really reside in my body; I’m simply paying rent to it. This rented house of mine has two windows, I call them my eyes. I guess my mind is the prison and I’m never going to get out of it.

I’m a visitor inside my brain and now my thoughts have chained me to my bed and I’m stuck. Hello, is anybody there, you got keys to my cell?

Wait a minute there is nobody here miles and miles away then who really locked the cell from outside? I give it one small push and it opens with a creak. The door to my prison was never locked? I was staying there voluntarily!

The Brain is powerful. How many doors in your life, you think are locked but aren’t? How many times have you been stuck in the mental prison of overthinking? Something that really had a simple solution. There is an old African line that says, ‘When there is no enemy within, the enemy outside can do us no harm.’ Cerebral Cortex is that part of the brain which produces thoughts, the capability of imagining things beyond reality. It is the strongest force in your life. It will force its opinions on you – ‘you are not good enough’, ‘you cannot do it’, ‘what will they say about you?’,’ stop, you are not made for this.’

Dear Mind of mine, thank you for your opinions but every overthinking thought you produce is equivalent to nothing. We bring it to life with the attention we give it. Stressful thoughts knock on our doors and we tell them ‘STAY OUT’. But that makes them knock louder.

BUT HOW DO I CONTROL AND DESTROY THOSE THOUGHTS?

The secret is – don’t mind the mind. This is the natural state of existence. This is the law of universe. In Science, the first law of Thermodynamics states that, ‘You cannot create or destroy energy but you can transfer it from one thing to another.’ Thoughts will arise and yes you will fill them but you don’t have to fight, control or defeat you mind. Just stay neutral in between those thoughts and it will dissolve into silence. A peaceful state of mind.

Or we can order a pizza and transfer the energy we spend on overthinking into the process of eating this slice of cheesy heaven. But why does the circle pizza come in a square box? And why is a slice of pizza triangle? Did mathematicians invent the pizza? Is pizza the SYMBOL OF ILLUMINATI?! WHAT IF…..and just like that the writer fell into her rabbit hole of overthinking and the Shor (noise) in her Cerebral Cortex was louder than the Shor in her city.