The Effects of Overthinking

Not everyone is decisive at crucial moments of decision-making. The time it takes someone to think through for a conclusive decision varies depending on the situation and personality. However, overthinking can have the following negative impact on our mental wellbeing:

Starts or Worsens Depression

People prone to overthinking tend to worry a lot as they deal with life. Thoughts about negative scenarios will eventually bring our mood down too. An increase in stressful thoughts decreases the production of serotonin (chemicals produced to maintain mental stability) in our brains, contributing to depressive states. A lack of serotonin is also known to cause various symptoms such as constant fatigue, insomnia, and irritation.

Prevents Us From Being Proactive

When we act before we think, we are faster in taking action. When we think before we act, it prevents us from being proactive. It may not make a big difference in your personal life, but overthinking in business settings can lead to lost opportunities and networks.

Increases Difficulty in Tackling New Challenges

New challenges feel difficult when we overthink them. The more time we spend thinking, the more worrisome aspects of the challenge seem apparent. Of course, thinking through could keep us safe from possible risks, but it also prohibits us from taking the risks necessary to create change.

For example, the mental exhaustion from over-focusing on the problems will hold us back from taking courageous actions or risks necessary to create change. Avoidance of actions and risks may keep us in a perpetually hostile environment that potentially breaks us. There’s always a risk for depression and PTSD for people who feel like they have no escape.

5 Activities to Try When Overthinking

People who overthink tend to be perfectionists that want to seek answers until they can convince their own logic. The following activities are helpful when thinking becomes painful.

1. Try a Physically Active Hobby

Find a hobby that you enjoy. Indulgence in hobbies can change our focus and avoid perpetual negativity.

Any hobby is sufficient, but something physically active is ideal. This is because we want to balance out the activities in our left brain (logic, thinking, and mathematics) by activating the right brain (feelings, intuition, and creativity). Exercise helps activate our right brain as we focus on physical activity, and this helps us stay away from looping thoughts.

2. Write Out Your Thoughts

We overthink because we haven’t found a conclusion. Thus, writing out all of your thoughts on a piece of paper may be helpful in viewing ideas objectively. Verbalization of internal thoughts helps organize thoughts, calms the mind, and inspires solutions.
This is a great method for people who want to improve their mental health by finding solutions.

3. Sleep

Sleep is one way to help our brain recover from mental fatigue. If thinking through a matter isn’t helping, we can shut our thoughts down for a while by falling asleep.
For some, the mind can still continue to run wild even while trying to rest. In that case, we recommend the following activities:

• Soak in a hot tub
• Keep away from electronics (smartphones and tablets) before bed
• Surround yourself with pleasing scents using aroma oils or candles
• Read a familiar book that comforts you
• Don’t eat 2 hours before bed

4. Talk to Someone

Sometimes, we can move forward by talking to close friends and gaining new perspectives. It helps to proactively confide our feelings to someone close. Not just because of the solutions, we might gain, but the “comfort” we feel from it is as significant. The act to share our thoughts prevents isolation and makes us feel connected with society again.

5. Set a Routine Time Dedicated to Thinking

One of the reasons we keep overthinking is because we don’t know when to stop. Sometimes, stopping all thoughts can lead to better solutions.

Still, for people who overthink, letting go of their thoughts can sound like a challenge. If so, try to set dedicated routine times for thinking. It could be 30 mins before bed or the first 15 mins when you wake up. Set times dedicated to thinking each day will help prevent our minds from overrunning forever.

Find What Works for You

There’s nothing wrong with working through a thought. However, if you recognize that you’re overthinking, it’s healthy to take breaks. In this post, we introduced 5 specific activities that could combat depression and overthinking, but frankly, it can be any activity that calms your mind. The scale and depths of our issues are all different. We hope you find what works for you in facing your inner thoughts.

Looking to improve your mental health? Need someone to talk to? Try the SELF MIND app for a FREE trial!
If you’re looking for more tips on how to care for your mental health, check out some of our past blog posts!

Reference：

Matsumoto, M. (2005). How Overthinking Contributes to Continual Depression. Japan Society of Personality Psychology.

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Do you ever feel lethargic and disinterested, like you couldn’t be bothered to do anything at all? Indeed, this feeling is “apathy”. We all have days where we just don’t want to do things we know we should, like dealing with house chores after coming back from a long vacation. Dealing with apathy has been a huge challenge for humans throughout history. This article will explore what apathy does to our mental health, and some ways to handle these feelings when they arise.

What Apathy Means: 2 Characteristics

Since no two people in the world are the same, what apathy manifests itself as, and how it affects us, are different for each of us. It also depends on what we are feeling apathetic about and how we got there. As an example, college students sometimes display symptoms of “student apathy”. Some students lose motivation to take on their studies without a clear reason. Researchers believe this to be one of the reasons for students to fail grades and dropout. Student Apathy is different to apatheticness that stems from depression. This is because Student Apathy is an experience specifically towards their studies, whereas Depressive Apathy is something that affects our entire life. The former kind of apathy involves the inability to think further about the problems they hold. On the other hand, the latter generally involves overthinking about problems.

In the same way that sugar and salt appears the same but are completely unlike, different manifestations of apatheticness have been lumped under the same umbrella term of “apathy”. Currently, researchers are trying to see if apatheticness can be patterned into student-apathy-types and depression-types.

Diffirent Kinds of Apatheticness

In 2003, researchers conducted a survey in Japan among 283 university students (233 valid responses). The researchers were able to sort the participants into multiple groups, based on questionnaires asking about their motivation for club activities and part-time jobs. The results showed one high motivation group, and three low motivation groups.

Furthermore, they found that the low-motivation groups had two categories: low motivation for academics alone and low motivation for everything. As a result, only the group with low motivation towards academics showed characteristics of Student Apathy. These student showed a lack of thought towards their inner selves. This suggests that the low academic motivation group had a tendency toward Student Apathy, which may be different from the other two low motivation groups. Although the study itself may not be concrete, the results show what apathy can be patterned into: Student Apathy, and Depressive Apathy. Furthermore, that these two patterns of apathy should have separate categories when considering treatment.

What Apathy Can Teach Us

The Japanese study mentioned above yielded some other interesting results. According to the study, the group with the lowest interpersonal and recreational motivation tended to look inward when they had a negative experience. Of course, it’s a good thing that we don’t run away from bad experiences. However, they were more likely to develop depression through their apatheticness. This was mainly because of their lack in dependency for support, and disinterest in entertainment. While this Japanese study focused on what apathy did to the behavior of students, in today’s fast-paced society, this situation could resonate with anyone, and not just students.

Don’t Be Afraid to Ask for Help

There are times in our lives when we can’t help but feel like not wanting to do anything. If so, why not try relying on someone else? When we don’t feel good, we can’t help but think negatively. At times like this, staying in our own thought bubble can set us down into a negative spiral. If you continue to dwell in your general disinterest and lack of motivation, that’s what apathy will feed on. Before this happens, try reaching out. A family member, friend, someone you trust, or even a stranger on social media. One of those people may be able to help you stay positive and lift you out from your apatheticness. I hope this article has also served as a small light at the end of the tunnel, for someone who may need it.

Looking to improve your mental health? Try the SELF MIND app FREE for 1 week!
If you’re looking for more tips on how to care for your mental health, check out some of our past blog posts!

Image：Unsplash
Reference：
Kano, T., & Tsugawa, R. (2008). A classification of apathy in undergraduates. The Japanese Journal of Mental Health, 23(2), 2-10. doi: 10.11383/kokoronokenkou1986.23.2_2

Uchida, C. (2010). Apathetic and Withdrawing Students in Japanese Universities – with Regard to Hikikomori and Student Apathy. Journal of Medical and Dental Sciences 57(1), 95-108. doi: 10.11480/jmds.570111

The post What Apathy Does to Us and How to Deal With It appeared first on SELF MIND.