GET OVER OVERTHINKING!

It's more than just worrying. Excessive ruminating can affect your mental health. Experts weigh in on how you can manage it

- MAXINE PETERS

IT SO easily becomes a vicious cycle. You need to take your car to a mechanic and start worrying about how to pay for it. That leads to worrying about money, the ever-rising cost of living and how you just can’t seem to keep up.

That leads to worrying about the state of the economy. What if you lose your job? What if you lose your house? And pretty soon you’ve spiralled down into a rabbit hole of anxiety.

Let’s face it – with everything that’s going on in the country and the world right now, it can be difficult to stop your mind from going into overdrive.

The vicious cycle that is overthinking doesn’t only play out as worrying about the future though – it can also mean constantly dwelling on the past, berating yourself for mistakes or bad decisions.

If overthinking has become a habit, it’s time to get it under control because it can affect your mental health.

Overthinking actually amplifies your stress because instead of focusing on problem-solving, you give negative thoughts far too much time and attention, which exhausts your mind.

So when does thinking tip over into overthinking and become more harmful than helpful? And how can you stop doing it? Here’s advice from experts.

WHY DOES IT HAPPEN?

You might think overanalyzing a problem or situation is a good way to get to the bottom of it because you’re looking at the issue from every possible viewpoint. But this is often not the case.

Thinking about a certain topic or situation excessively means you’ll have a hard time focusing on anything else. It means going over and over something in your mind instead of taking action.