Psychologist shares how to stop overthinking
It's so easy to focus on negative thoughts, believe it or not thinking positively takes more of an effort.
We are living in a world that is going through the motions. From anxiety to panic attacks, we all have our fair share of mental health issues.
But running away from it won't help the situation. Facing these things head-on is always the best thing to do. Psychologists will say that your anxiety could be linked to several things; one of them could be childhood trauma, and another common thing is overthinking.
"Overthinking is when your thoughts and worries circle in an endless loop. Instead of preparing you for next steps, overthinking usually leads to inaction because it causes you to become overwhelmed by fear. Overthinking can be a symptom of depression, anxiety, and other mental health conditions." (GoodRX)
You could say then that when you stop and deal with the overthinking, you could potentially resolve a big chunk of your depression and anxiety.
A South African psychologist who often posts tools to help you change shared two things to help people overcome overthinking.
He referred to what is called Repetitive Negative Thinking (RNT) in psychological literature. He went on to say that it is essential to stop this sort of thinking because this is what contributes to anxiety and depression.
The first technique he discussed is a 'worry timer.' Basically, you set a timer for 10 -15 minutes to worry about whatever you want, so you would use this time to intentionally worry about all the things that worry you. What he noticed with his clients is that over time this task becomes tedious and unbecoming of their daily routines and thereby falls away.
Secondly, he discussed how naming the feeling can help. When you are in that repetitive negative thinking spell, name it. When you name it, you can acknowledge it and distance yourself from it.
These are just two ways you can try to stop your overthinking.
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