Author:
Lewis Jackson
Date Of Creation:
10 May 2021
Update Date:
1 July 2024
Content
Thinking too much about an issue, event, or even conversation is a common way to deal with stress. But some research shows that overthinking and relentlessness about something stress / depression is strongly linked with depression and anxiety. For many people, overthinking is just an automatic way of seeing the world, but that thinking can lead to long periods of depression and may even cause some people to delay trying. treatment. Learning how to cope with overthinking can help you let go of painful memories and get rid of harmful thinking.
Steps
Part 1 of 3: Control your thoughts
Explore a number of different misconceptions. Before you can begin to deal with or deal with your habit of overthinking, you will need to find out in what direction you think when you engage in harmful behavior. Whenever you find yourself harboring painful, unpleasant, or self-doubtful thoughts, you are prone to overthinking because of misperceptions. Likewise if you find yourself listing reasons for not doing something, or otherwise justifying self-distrust. Some of the most common misconceptions include:
- Think all or nothing - believe this to be absolute and see every situation in black or white.
- Over-generalization - see a negative event as a continuous cycle of failure or confusion.
- Mental filter - stop at only a few negative things (thoughts, feelings, consequences) while ignoring all the positives of certain situations or scenarios.
- Take the positives lightly - believe you don't have admirable qualities or meaningful achievements.
- Rush to conclusions - or assume that others are reacting / thinking negatively about you without any real evidence or believing an event is going badly without any evidence for it. this conclusion.
- Exaggerate or minimize - exaggerate the bad beyond its scope or reduce the importance of the good.
- Emotional reasoning - believe that your emotions reflect an objective truth about yourself.
- Sentences with the word "Do" - scold yourself or others for something you should or shouldn't say / do.
- Labeling - bringing a mistake or omission into a personality trait. (For example, change the thought "I made a mistake" to "I'm a loser and a loser.")
- Personalization and blaming - making mistakes in circumstances or events for which you are not responsible, or blaming others for situations / events they have no control over.
Determine how you think too much. There are many ways to overthink, most of which can be due to misconceptions. One form of overthinking is the habit of thinking known as "exacerbating the problem". Exacerbating problems whenever you automatically predict a negative consequence for some event or series of events, and hastily conclude that such consequences would be destructive and impossible stand. Exacerbating the problem is a combination of hasty conclusion and over-generalization.- Try to identify which of the misconceptions influences your overthinking the most. Write down the thoughts you experience, and try to determine what types of thoughts fall under the category of misperceptions.
- Practice learning to recognize some "outrageous" thoughts in the present, as they arise. Just name them when you realize they will come in handy. Try silently saying the word "thinking" whenever you start thinking too much - it can help keep you realistic and get rid of the wrong way of thinking.
Take note of your current feelings. It's easy to fall into "autopilot" mode all day. If your day is full of potentially worrying situations, you may blindly fall into situations that will make you overthink and aggravate the problem.- Try asking yourself to do a personal "registration". Evaluate how you are feeling when you enter a variety of scenarios and situations that tend to evoke over-thinking.
- Identify any situations in which you begin to indulge in overthinking. Don't judge yourself for it, just acknowledge it before you change it.
Challenge spontaneous thinking. Once you've identified the problem of over-thinking or exacerbating the problem, you can now begin to challenge the existence of those thoughts. Challenge them by remembering that these thoughts are not true, which can help you break the habit of overthinking.- Thoughts don't always reflect reality, and they are sometimes distorted, unannounced, or simply false. By letting go of the perception that is always right about thoughts, you will be able to consider other possibilities, or at least accept that overthinking is not always true.
- Examine the real (if any) and objective evidence you have to support the distorted perception and excessive thinking you are going through. Fortunately, you won't find any convincing evidence that underpins the facts of your current thinking.
- Try saying to yourself silently: "These are just thoughts, and they are not facts." Repeating this mantra can help you get rid of any troublesome thoughts that you are having.
Replace perception with facts. If your habit of over-thinking is getting out of control, you may find it difficult to get rid of that thought. However, once you learn to realize that some of the thoughts you are experiencing are not true, then you can easily replace that thinking pattern with the more realistic one. Tell yourself: "If I accept that the assumption and thinking too much are not true, then the truth in this situation was what? "
- Even if a situation ends badly, you can focus on what you can do differently next time as a substitute for clinging to what you should have said / done in the past. It won't be that easy at first, but once you retrain your brain to handle situations differently, eventually its capabilities will get better.
- Try asking others when they understand the situation and provide input. Sometimes asking a trusted friend, relative, or colleague if you are overreacting or overthinking will help you realize that there is no reason to keep thinking in that direction.
- Try talking to yourself positively, instead of distrusting yourself or overthinking. The way you talk to yourself (and think about yourself) can affect how you feel. So instead of criticizing yourself or meditating on some bad thoughts, try to focus on the things you did well and keep doing well.
Part 2 of 3: Overcoming fear
Practice relaxation techniques. Many people who endure overthinking and perceptive awareness find relaxation techniques can be helpful in getting rid of harmful thinking patterns. Relaxation techniques also have physical benefits, such as reducing heart rate and blood pressure, slowing breathing, and reducing the activity of stress hormones in the body. There are many types of relaxation techniques, including:
- Spontaneous relaxation - repeating some inner words or suggestions to help you relax. You can visualize a calm environment and then repeat positive affirmations, or just focus on your breathing.
- Continuous muscle relaxation - focusing on tensing, holding, and then relaxing each of the major muscle groups in the body. Starting with your facial muscles and moving down to your toes (or vice versa), stretch and hold each muscle group for 5 to 10 seconds before relaxing to relax.
- Visualization - allow your imagination to soften mental imagery, and visualize a peaceful place or place.
- Mindful breathing - put one hand on your chest and the other on your stomach. While sitting, lying down, or standing (the most comfortable and suitable position), take a slow, deep breath, forcing air into the abdomen instead of pointing at the chest. You should feel your abdomen swell as you inhale. Hold your breath for a few seconds, then exhale slowly until the previous breath dissolves. Repeat as many times as you need, until you start to feel calm.
- Meditation - similar to mindfulness breathing, meditation focuses on the slow and deep inhalation and exhalation in conjunction with the element of mindfulness meditation. That could mean reciting a mantra (a word or phrase that helps you stay calm / focused) or focusing your attention on bodily sensations, like feeling where you are sitting, or feeling. sense the breath coming in and out through the nostrils.
Find ways to distract yourself. If you find yourself constantly doubting yourself or over-analyzing situations, you may need to find a more positive way to get rid of that kind of thinking. Try distracting yourself in a positive, healthy way. For example, you can try meditation to keep yourself focused in the present moment. Or, if you like to craft, try knitting or sewing to keep your mind occupied whenever the over-thinking pattern dominates. If you like to play instruments, take them out and play for a while. Find out what makes you feel comfortable and helps you focus on the harm, and practice it every day when needed.
Explore thoughts through writing. Writing is a very effective way to process thoughts, analyze thought patterns, and figure out how to let them go. Many people find it helpful to have a 10-minute written exercise exploring the nature of the habit of thinking too much.
- Set stopwatch for 10 minutes.
- During that time, write as many of your thoughts as possible. Discover the person, situation or period you associate with those over-thinking thoughts, and whether the thought relates to who you were before, who you are now, and who you want to be. into life is not.
- Read through what you write when the time is up and determine your pattern of thinking. Ask yourself: "Will these thinking habits affect the way I see myself, my relationship, or the world around me? If so, would that effect be negative or positive. ? "
- You may also find it helpful to ask yourself, "Is there any kind of thought that really helped me? Or is the number of missed opportunities and sleepless nights more than the occasional number of times I am? What are you doing well? "
Do things that make you happy. Many people who think too much often avoid going out or having interactions out of fear of something may happening. Even if you cannot get rid of that kind of thinking, it is important that you do not allow overthinking to drive your decisions. If there's something you want to be in (like a concert or party), stop looking for excuses not to go and force yourself out. Otherwise, thinking too much will stop you from doing anything, and you will definitely regret it.
- Tell yourself that the regret you feel when you miss something is more powerful than the regret you feel when you have a time of dissatisfaction.
- Think about all the times when you took a risk to try something new and it worked. Then think about all the times you've chosen to stay at home or are afraid to try something new that has brought you. You will quickly find that taking the risk of failure is worthwhile because it leads to good.
- Remind yourself that you can always leave early if you are not having a good time. It's important to try to see if you can end up with a fun and meaningful experience.
Part 3 of 3: Change your mindset
Change of viewpoint failed. Whether you are afraid of trying something because over-thinking has led you to believe you will fail, or you cannot stop remembering a time when you failed in something or in a role, you need to realize that sometimes some problems just don't go the way we want them to. And that's not always bad. Much of what we consider failure is not the end, but a beginning: new choices, new opportunities, and new life.
- Realize that action can fail, but people (specifically you) don't.
- Instead of seeing failure as the end of something, think of it as a new opportunity. If you lose your job, you may find a better job that makes you more satisfied. If you start a new art project and it doesn't work out as you want it to, then at least you have done it, and you will have a better understanding of what you want to do differently next time. .
- Try to let failure motivate you. Try harder and focus on doing better next time, or spend more time preparing for upcoming events.
Try not to cling to the past. An important part of overthinking is realizing that you cannot change the past, and clinging to it won't help change anything. While learning from the past is an important part of development and growth, thinking too much and reflecting on mistakes, missed opportunities, and other elements of the past are harmful and not. effective.
- Once you draw a lesson you believe is necessary from past events, try giving up memories. Don't deliberately think about it. And any time you find yourself thinking about it, try to distract yourself or regain consciousness to get rid of that kind of thinking. Focus on the present, because you have the power to change the present.
Realize that you cannot predict the future. No one knows what's going to happen, and a mind that thinks too much certainly won't predict the future better than others in the world. However, many overthinking people tend to believe they know what will happen in advance: that trying to join a basketball team will only yield failure and humiliation, or asking someone. going out will lead to embarrassing and negative rejection. However, if you don't try it, how will you know? What is your assumption based on? It is more likely that those assumptions are unfounded and are causing you to fail by assuming in the first place that you will fail.
- Remind yourself that no one knows the future, and if you endure thinking too much, your "prediction" is mainly formed from self-doubt and fear of the unknown.
Advice
- Prepare a notebook and pen. Use a journaling or writing exercise to help you process your current thinking and determine if it relates to a serious problem.
- Some people who think too much tend to believe they can't do well or that they will fall behind and be looked down upon. Don't fall into this trap! Believe you can and you can; the pain and the feeling of suffocation will go away.
