How to stop overthinking and start problem-solving
Rethinking Overthinking: Ruminating, worrying and my technique for conquering them both
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Dear Rethinkers,
I often wake up around 4 a.m. with my mind doing a loop de loop. Sometimes, this feels like a spider web – my brain is threading ideas together. I enjoy this feeling. But other times, it feels more like a rollercoaster going around and around with “What if?” questions. Often, these worries are about something minor; other times they are about some horrible, hypothetical future. The topic of the worry almost doesn’t matter – the looping feels the same. It’s out of my control. Sound familiar?
The late Susan Nolen-Hoeksema, a professor of psychology at Yale University and author of Women Who Think Too Much, found in her extensive research that overthinking occurs mainly in young and middle-aged adults, with 73% of 25- to 35-year-olds identifying as overthinkers. It is more common for women to overthink (57%) than men (43%), and women are also more likely to take on excessive responsibility for others’ well-being - often a common characteristic of ruminators.
Overthinking is harmful. Problem-solving is helpful. So how can we make the mental shift?
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