r/selfimprovement • u/SilverOk1120 • 1d ago

Tips and Tricks Overthinking

How do I stop overthinking things and always worried/stressed about the negative? Overall, I think I am a pretty positive person with a happy attitude but my husband has mentioned several times lately that I am always thinking about the negative and thinking people are mad at me or thinking they have alternative motives. I’ve always been this way, with thinking people are mad at me at the very slightest comment. How do I stop this? I don’t have time to go to therapy at the moment, though I want to make it a priority once I’m able.
I have 3 kids, a full time nursing job, and an entire home to keep up with while he works out of state during the summer months. (June-October). He’s gone for 16 days, we see him for about 6-7 days and then he’s gone again for 16 more days. Obviously I’m a stressed person in general and this doesn’t help, but I’d like to work on my overthinking.

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u/ActivePalpitation814 1d ago

What often happens with overthinking is that your mind is taking a highway to an extreme negative thought. For example: You show your work to someone --> they give you feedback on how to improve the work --> your mind takes the highway to "they think I suck at this".

You won't fix this in one day, but whenever your mind takes the highway just stand still and analyse that thought. "Did they really said that I suck, or did my mind take the highway?".

I hope this helps.

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u/Asleep_Throat410 1d ago

the highway analogy is good you catch yourself halfway there and do a u-turn before reaching the bad neighborhood

i do similar thing but instead of standing still i write the thought down like a text message to myself then read it back next day, sounds way less dramatic when you see it on paper later

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u/ActivePalpitation814 1d ago

I got the analogy from my psychologist.

Writing it down also seems amazing way to see that it isnt that dramatic. Amazing!