Overthinking comes from a burdened mind— a mind that is curious and coated with doses of anxiety. Overthinking can be a genetic factor that makes one restless and worry about even the most mundane things. And no, they are just like everyone you meet, Overthinkers do not carry a name tag or a signpost.
Those that overthink have a lot to worry about—worrying erodes confidence and slows down decision-making. Being armed with lots of information can be a burden and if not handled properly, it can become a disadvantage.
For an overthinker to be effective, there has to be a detachment from emotions and a refocus on the future. Whatever trauma that happened in the past should be a lesson rather than a concern for the future. And for every mistake made, forgiveness should follow in the bid to positively reinforce character. Taking things one day at a time is a good way to start because a lot of things that emit fear in us about the future, never really occur.
Spotting an overthinker is easy if you are careful enough to notice those who easily highlight the nuances in everything. As earlier stated, it is mostly an innate feature of a person— a personality trait. It can also be gotten from childhood traumatic experiences, chemical imbalances in the brain, etcetera.
Anxiety is not a form of diagnosis, but a symptom of an overthinker. The fear of uncertainties and the acceptance of not being in control of certain things in life can cause a high level of anxiety such as panic attacks for an overthinker—which can be physical or emotional.
A state in which one becomes terrified without any visible attack in sight is a severe form of anxiety and should be treated. The treatment can be through drugs, the aid of a phycologist or a combination of both.
Thinking that every outcome in life will turn out for the worst is worrying and without the consciousness of solving the problem, things will spiral out of control in no time. But there’s good news! After all, they say, worrying has never solved any problem. However, we don’t stop worrying by listening to someone telling us not to worry; like in the case of an overthinker.
Everything points towards changing the pattern of the thought processes— doing things differently and developing a different mindset will help tail off a large chunk of thoughtful burdens. When one is made to believe that life is tough and filled with bad events, they tend to take life very seriously and thereby over analyze everything; from the paramount to the frivolous.
Nonetheless, we can help the Overthinkers by showing them how to profit from their troubled mind. The first step is to state the importance of a troubled mind. A troubled mind is a critical thinker, albeit ending the flights of thought in the negative. But it can be positive in the line of investigative journalism— the restlessness of a troubled mind will help pilot thoughts till it gets the desired results.
The overthinker can benefit from the troubles of life only when they come to terms with their reality and adjust accordingly to the fact that they are part of the big puzzle in life. That sense of belonging will help shape the thoughts and practices of such minds that barely experience calmness.
Better still, doubling as a content creator will be a walk in the park for an overthinker; the creativity put in this line of work will be genius. It’s an easy route for selling fears and uncertainties to unsuspecting customers in the form of horror movies or series.
While it is insensitive to downplay worries, we should tackle them head-on by asking ourselves, ‘what is the worst that could happen?’. After which, we make peace with the possibility of its occurrence and finally, put all the stops in place to make sure it never occurs. Living life in the prescribed way of experts in the field of mental health can help us become confident and productive. There’s an endless list of things to do with a burdensome mind. Note that everyone is responsible for their success and taking responsibility is the way to profit as an overthinker.