I'm posting under the obsession group b/c this thread has to do with obsessive thoughts. Do any of you have suggestions and or advice on how to recognize when I am over analyzing an event, situation, circumstance, etc...? And how to put a stop to it. My analytical mind is well suited for my job as a tax accountant because there is a seemingly endless list of things to analyse in this job. But the analytical brain is not suited to solve many problems and situations we face in life. And what happens is my mind ends up thinking the same thought or worry over and over again. Sometimes thousands of times I think. But merely thinking the same thought over and over again is never going to solve a problem or change a situation. Any ideas? Thank you all in advance.
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Advice/Suggestions to stop over analyzing
- Thread starter mw2530
- Start date
I battle the same problem, I'll be watching this thread closely. It doesn't really fix anything to know what's going on, but an interesting read on this subject is the Münchhausen Trilemma. It basically proves that logically we'll never find a satisfying conclusion to whatever is being obsessed about so it isn't worth obsessing over.
Based off the Trilemma, I've noticed that over-analysis comes in two forms: Overthinking (based on condition #2, of the infinite regress), which is the sort of "down the rabbit hole" type of over-analysis, and Circular Worrying (based on condition #1, the circular argument), where you just kind of turn some simple worry over and over in your head all day. Condition #3, the arbitrary axiomatic belief, colors both of those two.
When it comes to recognizing when I've over-analyzing either way, I sort of employ a coping mechanism for the anxiety that the over-analysis causes. It's as simple as it is elegant: if I'm anxious about a situation I'm analyzing, that probably means I'm over-analyzing it.
But what to do?
-For the Overthinking (infinitely regressive) style of over-analysis:
In most situations, the right answer is the simplest and most obvious, it's when the "what ifs" and "but then there's" get introduced to the thought process that things get way more complicated than they need to be. Far-flung contingencies seems so much more likely than they are, the selection bias rears its ugly head as the process of analyzing information turns slave to axiomatic beliefs (hearkening back to #3 of the Trilemma). Pretty soon it's a whole big web of near infinite possibilities.
Here's a tool I use to tear down that web:
1. Write down the problem/worry/thought with a limit of two sentences.
2. Attempt to answer the question using no more than two sentences.
And that can stop the "Rabbit-Hole" type of obsessive thinking.
-For the Circular Worrying type over-analysis:
This is trickier in a way, because the subject of the worry can be summarized as "it is because it is" and that's kind of hard to defeat. I employ distraction to deal with this one. This is why my sig says "Bigger problems: nature's Xanax", because when a distraction (just in my case, a more immediate problem) is introduced, you don't have the luxury of wallowing in this type of overthinking.
It's hard to worry in this way when your mind is thoroughly engaged with something else. Dare I say, even just going and talking to people can be the most effective way to do this since that typically takes a lot of mental resources.
Once broken, this type of overthinking (which, again, is circular in nature) will go away, at least as long as you have something better to think about.
So yeah, I don't know if any of that made any sense or not, I tend to presume too much, but at the very least you might want to read up on the Trilemma and take your own interpretation from it, I found it infinitely helpful.
Or am I over-analyzing this whole thing?
edit: Oh, and I'm Big Pharma's biggest fan, I'm on so many pills AstraZeneca sends me a Christmas card, so that helps too.
Based off the Trilemma, I've noticed that over-analysis comes in two forms: Overthinking (based on condition #2, of the infinite regress), which is the sort of "down the rabbit hole" type of over-analysis, and Circular Worrying (based on condition #1, the circular argument), where you just kind of turn some simple worry over and over in your head all day. Condition #3, the arbitrary axiomatic belief, colors both of those two.
When it comes to recognizing when I've over-analyzing either way, I sort of employ a coping mechanism for the anxiety that the over-analysis causes. It's as simple as it is elegant: if I'm anxious about a situation I'm analyzing, that probably means I'm over-analyzing it.
But what to do?
-For the Overthinking (infinitely regressive) style of over-analysis:
In most situations, the right answer is the simplest and most obvious, it's when the "what ifs" and "but then there's" get introduced to the thought process that things get way more complicated than they need to be. Far-flung contingencies seems so much more likely than they are, the selection bias rears its ugly head as the process of analyzing information turns slave to axiomatic beliefs (hearkening back to #3 of the Trilemma). Pretty soon it's a whole big web of near infinite possibilities.
Here's a tool I use to tear down that web:
1. Write down the problem/worry/thought with a limit of two sentences.
2. Attempt to answer the question using no more than two sentences.
And that can stop the "Rabbit-Hole" type of obsessive thinking.
-For the Circular Worrying type over-analysis:
This is trickier in a way, because the subject of the worry can be summarized as "it is because it is" and that's kind of hard to defeat. I employ distraction to deal with this one. This is why my sig says "Bigger problems: nature's Xanax", because when a distraction (just in my case, a more immediate problem) is introduced, you don't have the luxury of wallowing in this type of overthinking.
It's hard to worry in this way when your mind is thoroughly engaged with something else. Dare I say, even just going and talking to people can be the most effective way to do this since that typically takes a lot of mental resources.
Once broken, this type of overthinking (which, again, is circular in nature) will go away, at least as long as you have something better to think about.
So yeah, I don't know if any of that made any sense or not, I tend to presume too much, but at the very least you might want to read up on the Trilemma and take your own interpretation from it, I found it infinitely helpful.
Or am I over-analyzing this whole thing?
edit: Oh, and I'm Big Pharma's biggest fan, I'm on so many pills AstraZeneca sends me a Christmas card, so that helps too.
Gracey
Well-Known Member
In its most basic form,
There are hypothetical worries
And
There are practical worries.
The practical worry, for example, may be the creaking, squealing hinges on a door when opening and closing.
We can do something practical about those hinges in that moment.
The hypothetical is the question "what if the hinges started to creak and squeal?"
Put that question in our minds and we could create all manner of senarios and possible problems needing the most effective solution.
When in reality, the hinges haven't even started squealing yet.
There are hypothetical worries
And
There are practical worries.
The practical worry, for example, may be the creaking, squealing hinges on a door when opening and closing.
We can do something practical about those hinges in that moment.
The hypothetical is the question "what if the hinges started to creak and squeal?"
Put that question in our minds and we could create all manner of senarios and possible problems needing the most effective solution.
When in reality, the hinges haven't even started squealing yet.
So hypothetical problems are the one's that seem to cause the most problems mentally. That is the case for me. It is kind of counter intuitive, but often time real problems are easier to handle as long as you have some sort of control over them. If I can take a step towards solving a tangible problem, it releases its grip on me. What it comes down to is we are often most fearful of the unknown. I worry about what could be, instead of trying to solve the problem that is right in front of me. Real problems that I have little to no control over have a similar effect on me.
Gracey
Well-Known Member
If we have non or little control over a problem,
Is it actually a problem?
Or something to be accepted?
With the knowledge that we don't have that kind of power or capability to change it?
Is it even 'ours' to change?
I don't know what you're referring to. Personal, worldwide?
I like the character Hannibal Lecter who ate "the free range rude"
The guy was a mover and a shaker in addressing the problem of the insufferable.
(Joking)
Obnoxious, rude and offensive people really become a problem for me, if I let it.
Or I could just think to myself,
'This isn't mine to fix' and accept that's how those people communicate at the moment.
On the one hand I could try to find possible reasons and even solutions for their behaviour, or I could stop wasting my time and get on with my own life.
If you want to peruse some worksheets that break worrying and over analysing down, there's a CBT site with downloadable resources called 'Centre for clinical Intervention' or Google CCI CBT.
On the site you'll see a menu with resources for either a consumer, a practitioner or a doctor. You'll have access to any of them.
You can read through and practice the exercises at your own level of understanding.
I found the practical exercises useful.
I even have my own designated 'worry time' - where I can worry as much as I choose to and then evaluate.
Organising the worries into those I can do something about (practical) and those hypothetical, time consuming, anxiety provoking, imaginative, clairvoyant attempt type worries.
Is it actually a problem?
Or something to be accepted?
With the knowledge that we don't have that kind of power or capability to change it?
Is it even 'ours' to change?
I don't know what you're referring to. Personal, worldwide?
I like the character Hannibal Lecter who ate "the free range rude"
The guy was a mover and a shaker in addressing the problem of the insufferable.
(Joking)
Obnoxious, rude and offensive people really become a problem for me, if I let it.
Or I could just think to myself,
'This isn't mine to fix' and accept that's how those people communicate at the moment.
On the one hand I could try to find possible reasons and even solutions for their behaviour, or I could stop wasting my time and get on with my own life.
If you want to peruse some worksheets that break worrying and over analysing down, there's a CBT site with downloadable resources called 'Centre for clinical Intervention' or Google CCI CBT.
On the site you'll see a menu with resources for either a consumer, a practitioner or a doctor. You'll have access to any of them.
You can read through and practice the exercises at your own level of understanding.
I found the practical exercises useful.
I even have my own designated 'worry time' - where I can worry as much as I choose to and then evaluate.
Organising the worries into those I can do something about (practical) and those hypothetical, time consuming, anxiety provoking, imaginative, clairvoyant attempt type worries.
Idahocalypse
Ravenpaw
Whenever I start worrying too much about things, I will pace around the house and talk to myself out loud to try to work out the problem verbally. Oftentimes things that seem like a big deal in my own mind can lose its grip on me, or even seem outright silly, when I voice them out loud. At the very least, venting makes me feel emotionally better and gives my mind a chance to rest even if I don't reach a solution.
I do much the same- especially over critical decisions...or at least those which seem "critical" at the time.
I do this all the time.
The coping mechanisms that have worked for me so far (keen to find more) are substitution and visualisation.
Most of the time I analyse everything to death. News stories, social patterns, people, everything. But occasionally it gets unhealthy. Like if I develop an intense dislike to someone I've learned that it is most likely in my head and that their slight infraction was unintentional. Or if I notice something that is not in my interests, like an occurrence at work, it's most likely in my head and nothing to do with me.
So the measure of 'unhealthy' for me is if it negatively effects myself or someone else. Like if I start speaking ill of someone, or spending more time analysing something that eating healthily or exercising, I rate it as over analysing.
If that happens I a) try to substitute it with a less damaging topic or b) EVERY time it pops back into my head, even if this is every 10 minutes throughout the day, I stop, imaging "weeding out the thought" or physically removing it from my brain, clearing or washing my brain and try to think about something else.
The coping mechanisms that have worked for me so far (keen to find more) are substitution and visualisation.
Most of the time I analyse everything to death. News stories, social patterns, people, everything. But occasionally it gets unhealthy. Like if I develop an intense dislike to someone I've learned that it is most likely in my head and that their slight infraction was unintentional. Or if I notice something that is not in my interests, like an occurrence at work, it's most likely in my head and nothing to do with me.
So the measure of 'unhealthy' for me is if it negatively effects myself or someone else. Like if I start speaking ill of someone, or spending more time analysing something that eating healthily or exercising, I rate it as over analysing.
If that happens I a) try to substitute it with a less damaging topic or b) EVERY time it pops back into my head, even if this is every 10 minutes throughout the day, I stop, imaging "weeding out the thought" or physically removing it from my brain, clearing or washing my brain and try to think about something else.
sKeptic
Member
I had the same problems from the early childhood. The main thing that helped me to overcome this obsession is the experience of not experiencing it. Just that.
It was a sheer luck, I met some reggae people, tried marijuana, well, one thing after another and I ended up smoking mj every day for a couple a years. It created a lot of other problems, with social and general anxiety, and it's too easy to begin to rely on mj, so I will NOT recommend that.
Anxiolytics in combination with some antidepressants should have the same-ish effect. Actually, spitomin+prozac worked good for me, when I quit smoking, but it's individual. And it's not fun like mj at all so you will never abuse it and you will never want to take it longer than necessary.
So. There a lot of great recommendations above, my favourite is about writing your thoughts in system, and you totally should try all this stuff if you are already obsessed. But if you want to stop the obsessions from happening, the easy way is to use drugs. Not all the time, only to initially find your peace and then in some really bad moments in life, when you just not in control, it happens to everyone. In the last case you should only take anxiolytics first and it will help in most cases.
Maybe one could do it with just a good meditation and relaxation techniques, but maybe not everyone.
It was a sheer luck, I met some reggae people, tried marijuana, well, one thing after another and I ended up smoking mj every day for a couple a years. It created a lot of other problems, with social and general anxiety, and it's too easy to begin to rely on mj, so I will NOT recommend that.
Anxiolytics in combination with some antidepressants should have the same-ish effect. Actually, spitomin+prozac worked good for me, when I quit smoking, but it's individual. And it's not fun like mj at all so you will never abuse it and you will never want to take it longer than necessary.
So. There a lot of great recommendations above, my favourite is about writing your thoughts in system, and you totally should try all this stuff if you are already obsessed. But if you want to stop the obsessions from happening, the easy way is to use drugs. Not all the time, only to initially find your peace and then in some really bad moments in life, when you just not in control, it happens to everyone. In the last case you should only take anxiolytics first and it will help in most cases.
Maybe one could do it with just a good meditation and relaxation techniques, but maybe not everyone.
Lula1989
Well-Known Member
I did not read all of the comments, so apologies on redundancy if any. I over analyze conversations constantly, and facial expressions. To a point it ruins my day or my relationship with said person (meaning I start thinking they hate me to a point I avoid them). I have a few things I live by below. Usually I don't have time to write things down. My stress comes directly in the moment without me getting "me" time to breathe and reassess.. so because of that I focus on mental stimuli for in the moment situations.
1. The quote "If it is not going to matter in 5 days, 5 weeks, or 5 months, then why waste 5 minutes on it?" I have this posted on my computer at work, and have had great feedback from my CEO on how helpful it is to keep in mind. To help focus on the positives, what you can change and what you can't
2. Pulling from #1, if something is stressing you out to such an extensive point, I find it helpful to stop, take a breath,and ask myself "Can I change this/Do I have control over this?" "If I can control the situation, will the outcome benefit anyone other than myself in knowing I was right?" If the answer is no, brush it off your shoulders and move on with your day.
3. I have been reading "People Styles at Work" and "Emotional Intelligence" to help me think outside of my own thoughts and wants. People styles talks about 4 different style of behavior and thought patterns and how to flex yourself into another style to be able to work with that person. E.I. is to help you improve either your own emotional awareness and management, or social emotions awareness and management of those emotions.
Hope this helps, and these are things I live and breath by!
1. The quote "If it is not going to matter in 5 days, 5 weeks, or 5 months, then why waste 5 minutes on it?" I have this posted on my computer at work, and have had great feedback from my CEO on how helpful it is to keep in mind. To help focus on the positives, what you can change and what you can't
2. Pulling from #1, if something is stressing you out to such an extensive point, I find it helpful to stop, take a breath,and ask myself "Can I change this/Do I have control over this?" "If I can control the situation, will the outcome benefit anyone other than myself in knowing I was right?" If the answer is no, brush it off your shoulders and move on with your day.
3. I have been reading "People Styles at Work" and "Emotional Intelligence" to help me think outside of my own thoughts and wants. People styles talks about 4 different style of behavior and thought patterns and how to flex yourself into another style to be able to work with that person. E.I. is to help you improve either your own emotional awareness and management, or social emotions awareness and management of those emotions.
Hope this helps, and these are things I live and breath by!
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