Stop Overthinking: 23 Techniques to Relieve Stress, Stop Negative Spirals, Declutter Your Mind, and Focus on the Present (The Path to Calm)

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A problem features goals and barriers. We have goals we want to reach, and then there are these hills or mountains, called barriers, that stand in our way to reach these goals. Problem solving is about overcoming these barriers so that we can reach our final destination: Our goals.” One way that “The Mindful Path to Self-Compassion” can help prevent overthinking is by teaching readers how to cultivate self-compassion and self-kindness. By learning to be kind and understanding towards ourselves, rather than judging or criticizing ourselves, we can reduce the tendency to get caught up in negative thought patterns. Radical Acceptance by Tara Brach

This is a memoir and self-help book that discusses the author’s journey to find inner peace and happiness through mindfulness and meditation. In the book, Harris discusses the role that overthinking and negative thought patterns can play in causing stress and suffering, and how mindfulness and meditation can help to reduce these patterns.The book is written in an easy-to-digest form and won’t leave you without laughter. You’ll find out how your anxious mind works and what you can do about it.

So what's the point of all these? You yourself realized that you can't have mental peace among all the negativities and toxicities you are surrounded with, so you kind of ran away from your problems, from your home, from your society. I'm not usually one for self-help books but I did really enjoy reading The Book of Knowing which was the earlier book from this author, and I shared that book with lots of students at school who found it useful and interesting. I was keen to read this next one. It is more focused on adults and I got a lot out of it personally. As someone who is mad keen on worrying it had some great exercises which I will continue to use, but it also clarified and put a name to what is happening in my brain when I do worry. I'm perfectly capable of overthinking the most ridiculous things and it is good to know that that isn't unusual or weird, but something I can do something about. According to the Berkeley Well-Being Institute, overthinking refers to “the process of repetitive, unproductive thought.” You ruminate about the past or worry about the future or some bad thing happening. Ford B, et al. (2018). The psychological health benefits of accepting negative emotions and thoughts: Laboratory, diary, and longitudinal evidence. Try Audible Plus Chatter: The Voice in Our Head, Why It Matters, and How to Harness It by Ethan Kross

In this five-minute interview from March 2020, available on YouTube, the clinical psychologist Adrian Wells, the founder of metacognitive therapy, gives a concise overview of this therapeutic approach, which is focused on reducing overthinking.

I'm glad the author didn't lecture us with all that useless crap like "stop worrying!" "Be positive!" "Smile in the mirror and tell yourself you can do anything!". One way of challenging the belief that overthinking is outside your control is to explore whether you’re able to postpone worries and ruminations. Set half an hour a day at a specific time where you can freely worry and ruminate. When trigger thoughts occur earlier during the day, instruct yourself to leave the thought alone, like an itching mosquito bite, and postpone engaging in it until your set time (you might tell yourself: ‘I’ll deal with this later’). Numerous doctors and psychiatrists have lauded the book for its accessible prose and methodical explanations. Many chronic overthinkers struggle to change their belief that their thoughts can be brought under control, and perhaps you’re still not convinced. One way of challenging your belief further is to explore whether you’re able to postpone worries and ruminations. I recommend that my clients introduce a so-called ‘worry/rumination time’. It has to be a set time of the day, for instance 7.30pm to 8pm, where you allow yourself to worry and ruminate freely. That way, when trigger thoughts or feelings occur during the day – for instance, you feel the need to evaluate your health or reflect upon what your friends think of you – try postponing these thoughts to your scheduled worry/rumination time (you might tell yourself: ‘I’ll deal with this later’). This set time is also useful for any planning or reassurance-seeking for which you feel the need. One note of caution: you might want to avoid scheduling your worry time within one or two hours of when you plan to go to bed, especially if you’re prone to insomnia or other sleep difficulties. Also, another helpful tip is to watch out for any negative self-talk. Sometimes negativity and overthinking are present in your own head and you are not even aware of this. Try to monitor your thoughts during your daily activities. Where does your mind go? Write down any negative thoughts and try to replace them with more positive ideas.Finally, while this might seem obvious, the worry/rumination time is a way of reducing and containing the amount of time you spend worrying and ruminating. As I explained earlier, it’s not the trigger thought in and of itself that causes unpleasant symptoms, nor is it the amount of trigger thoughts. It’s the time spent engaging in these thoughts, ruminating and worrying, that weighs us down. By allocating a set period of time for worry and rumination, you’re more likely to feel in control and prevent yourself becoming overwhelmed. How to find your instant Zen: Autogenic training (meditation/guided imagery/progressive muscle relaxation/worry postponement) helps us gain control over our thoughts and emotions. Worry postponement allows you to schedule a time in the future for your worrying. We can seldom eliminate worry from our lives, but we can consciously limit its time of onset and the duration. We need to control our worries verses them controlling us. Mental and emotional mastery comes from gradually learning that you are in control, not just of your thoughts, but of your emotions and your physical body. In my daily work as a metacognitive clinical psychologist, I encounter many people who, in trying to find answers or meaning, or in attempting to make the right decision, spend most of their waking hours scrutinising their minds for solutions. Ironically, in this process of trying to figure out how to proceed in life, they come to a standstill. The stark truth is that you can’t worry and ruminate extensively about everything that’s gone wrong, or will go wrong, and at the same time stay emotionally balanced and without burdensome symptoms. Naturally, you’ll sometimes need to thoroughly think things through. So, what to do? My advice is that, if you want the best of both worlds – fewer symptoms and room for contemplation – then set yourself the worry/rumination time, as I described in the ‘What to Do’ section, and postpone your worries and ruminations to that specific time. Perhaps this is referenced somewhere, but it’s nigh on impossible to tell as the way the book is referenced is essentially just a great long list.

The counter to an overthinking state is a mindful state. Free of past or future worries. Present. Feeling the wold around you as it really is, now. Without fear. With clarity.Here is a guidebook to self-compassion. In the book, Germer discusses the role that overthinking and negative thought patterns can play in causing suffering, and how self-compassion can help to change these patterns. Seeking answers and reassurance: it’s completely natural to seek reassurance from people close to you, and to look for answers as to how to cope better. However, if you come to a point where you depend on these strategies to calm you down and reduce your worries, you’re on a slippery slope. For instance, some of my clients spend several hours a day Googling, hoping to find reassurance or, at least, an explanation as to why they’re feeling down. Yet this strategy often leads to even more worries, since Googling relatively common symptoms typically yields a wide range of search results, including diagnoses that you hadn’t even thought of. Some trigger thoughts can activate warmth and joy about an exciting upcoming project, meeting a friend, or a holiday you’re looking forward to. These kinds of trigger thoughts are, of course, unproblematic. Other trigger thoughts, however, might activate a long series of further thoughts that can develop into worries or ruminations. Worries typically form around hypothetical scenarios and start with ‘What if…’ statements such as: ‘What if I make the wrong decision?’ ‘What if they won’t like me?’ ‘What if I get ill?’ and so on. Typical rumination, on the other hand, starts with thoughts about what, why and how: ‘What is wrong with me?’ ‘Why am I feeling this way?’ ‘How do I get better?’ When we spend too much time analysing our problems and dilemmas, we often end up more at a loss than we were to begin with. On top of that, persistent overthinking can result in a wide range of symptoms such as insomnia, trouble concentrating and loss of energy which, in turn, often leads to further worries regarding one’s symptoms, thereby creating a vicious cycle of overthinking. In some cases, this eventually leads to chronic anxiety or depression. Thomsen DK, Mehlsen MY, Christensen S, Zachariae R. Rumination—relationship with negative mood and sleep quality. Personality and Individual Differences. 2003;34(7):1293-1301. doi:10.1016/s0191-8869(02)00120-4