We humans have always had the capacity for worry; however, it seems we’ve entered a stage of our evolution where anxiety, stress, worry, rumination and overthinking of all kinds is much more prevalent among us. In fact, these patterns of intrusive thought are estimated to impact over 6 million Americans, and many others at least from time to time.
There are a number of theories as to why this is so.
To get started, let’s try to define these terms that are often used almost interchangeably in the literature.
In fact, there are no strict definitions for worry, overthinking and rumination. But it’s important for us to be able to distinguish them one from another. Because some categories of worry and overthinking are useful and appropriate. Others carry significant dangers to our health.
So, let’s talk about worry, overthinking and rumination.
How are they the same? How are they different?
And when should we be concerned about our own thought patterns, or the thought patterns of those we love?
Dangers of Overthinking: When to Worry
As mentioned above, there are no definitive descriptions to differentiate worry, rumination, and overthinking in the scientific literature. But as I’ve studied each there are a few characteristics that seem to vary among them.
Worry
Worry, is, for the most part, a normal, healthy, useful, thought pattern.
It makes sense. It’s usually a result of a specific circumstance.
We see a storm cloud on the horizon, and we wonder if it is headed our way.
Back in prehistoric times, if we saw an unknown beast nearby, it was worry that prompted us to hide or seek shelter.
Worry (within reason) has a productive outcome.
It encourages us to do something to avoid oncoming trouble.
Or to be cautious about a behavior that may carry risks.
Worry is what gets us in the basement when we’re in the path of an oncoming tornado.
Worry prompts us to get vaccines and take our medicine and eat healthy and try to get enough sleep.
Productive worry doesn’t prevent us from moving on with life. This kind of worry is actually good for us.
Overthinking
Overthinking is what happens when worry goes unchecked.
We go through cyclical thought loops.
We worry about things that are unlikely or near impossible.
And we can’t stop.
Also, we don’t take positive actions as a result of our overthinking.
We just sit there and stew. Our anxiety gets stoked, which creates more stress. And the stress continues to feed our overthinking mental processes.
We feel paralyzed as we overthink.
Our decision making becomes impaired.
Worry tends to lead us to practical actions to mitigate a risk; overthinking does not.
Overthinking just leads us to imagine potential outcomes that are often way more negative, damaging or extreme then what will likely occur.
And our minds continue to play out disastrous scenarios, with no effective problem solving or risk mitigation strategies as a result.
Rumination
What differentiates rumination from worry and overthinking?
Rumination is when we dwell on thoughts of things that have happened in the past.
Or things that we imagine may happen in the future.
The distinguishing factor of rumination is that this family of worrisome thoughts often focuses on past events, mistakes, or failures in our lives.
Past humiliation or sins or moments of weakness.
Ruminating on past events that we cannot change leads to feelings of guilt, inadequacy and more than anything, regret.
Regret is an emotion that is difficult to parlay into a positive energy or reward.
Regret simply makes us sad. And dwelling on it magnifies those feelings of sadness.
In short, rumination has a negative focus.
It does not allow us to process emotions or events in a healthy manner, and therefore prevents us from ultimately moving beyond them.
When To Worry about Worry
Overthinking and rumination have a wide array of potential downstream consequences.
These thought patterns may impact our health in negative ways (increased stress, heart rate, blood pressure, risk of stroke, headaches, fatigue, nausea, indigestion, diarrhea, and insomnia, just to name a few possibilities).
But, equally important, overthinking and rumination may also be symptoms of other serious mental health syndromes or related disorders.
Someone who ruminates on what they eat and what they weigh may have bulimia or anorexia.
Someone who ruminates on potential natural disasters or risk of crime or assault may be harboring a case of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Overthinking and rumination is also a frequent symptom of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
Overthinking in and of itself is not a disorder. But OCD is.
And OCD can have significant consequences to our mental and physical health, as well as our state of mind and quality of life.
Do You Need to Worry about Overthinking?
If you think your worry may be out of control, or putting you at risk for other health consequences, there are many resources out there to help.
To start, you may want to check out the excellent book, Stop Overthinking. The author, Nick Trent, explains and analyzes our actual thought patterns (and how to disrupt them). He also identifies 23 potential strategies we can employ to short circuit overthinking to get almost immediate relief from this debilitating state of mind.
How to Learn More About Overthinking
If you’re interested in learning more about overthinking, be sure to subscribe to this website, because this is the first in a series of pieces will provide more insight into potential causes, symptoms, remedies, and risks related to different types of overthinking and rumination.
The next article in this series is: Overthinking at Work: How to Stop Second-Guessing Yourself.
Thank you as always for reading.
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Joan Senio is the founder of KindCompassCoach. Her career includes 20+ years as a private sector corporate executive and 15 years as a consultant. The common thread through her professional life has been a commitment to compassionate coaching and leadership, including mentoring early and mid-career professionals as well as current and future executives and leaders. KindCompassCoach articles are backed by research and include facts and advice from relevant experts. Joan is a member of the International Organization of Life Coaches, serves as a thought-leader for KuelLife.com and is a regular contributor to PsychReg and Sixty and Me.
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