Stop Overthinking: 23 Techniques to Relieve Stress, Stop Negative Spirals, Declutter Your Mind, and Focus on the Present (The Path to Calm)

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In my daily work as a metacognitive clinical psychologist, I encounter many people who, in trying to find answers or meaning, or in attempting to make the right decision, spend most of their waking hours scrutinising their minds for solutions. Ironically, in this process of trying to figure out how to proceed in life, they come to a standstill. Based on that, G. Smith has classified overthinking into (1) positive and (2) negative aka worrisome. Author Gwendoline Smith is a clinical psychologist, speaker, and the author of The Book of Knowing, Depression Explained and Sharing the Load. She dispenses mental health advice online as Dr. Know. She lives in New Zealand. Along the same lines, in places it reads like a parody of self help books, which I'm assuming isn’t intentional? Self help by Alan Partridge?

This is a self-help book that teaches readers how to set and achieve their goals by adopting a positive and optimistic mindset. In the book, Schwartz argues that our thoughts and beliefs have a powerful impact on our actions and outcomes and that by thinking big and believing in ourselves, we can overcome obstacles and achieve our goals. Although it may not be among the best books for overthinking on your list, I reserved its spot for mine. Here’s why. A problem features goals and barriers. We have goals we want to reach, and then there are these hills or mountains, called barriers, that stand in our way to reach these goals. Problem solving is about overcoming these barriers so that we can reach our final destination: Our goals.” This ambivalence reflects specific assumptions that you, like many others, might have about your thoughts and strategies. If you’re to succeed in reducing your overthinking, then it might be necessary to confront these assumptions head on. For instance, one common assumption is: ‘If I worry about what could go wrong, I’ll be able to handle it better.’ Another is: ‘If I go over what I did wrong, I’ll be able to do better next time.’ It goes without saying that, if you live by these beliefs about the supposed benefits of worry and rumination, you’ll find it especially difficult to let go of them.Dr. Mosconi sheds light on brain health from a unique perspective: her scientific research covers neuroscience, microbiology, genomics, and nutrition. This holistic approach to cognitive health links diet to brain function and explains why you’re always tired. Rewire Your Anxious Brain is a self-help book written by Catherine M. Pittman, a clinical psychologist and author, and Elizabeth M. Karle, a clinical neuropsychologist. The book provides a comprehensive guide to understanding and overcoming anxiety, panic, and worry by using the latest findings in neuroscience. Rather than being fearful of your mistakes, try making mistakes on purpose, just to see what happens.”

Self-help books tend to be a bit of hit-and-miss with me, with greater emphasis on miss, but this one was actually helpful. That might be because I've always been a worrier and prone to anxiety, so the subject matter hits rather uncomfortably close to home. The author approaches worrisome overthinking from the perspective of cognitive behavioural therapy, patiently explaining what overthinking really is, where it stems from, what it does to you, how utterly absurd it is at the end of the day, and what you can do to unlearn this ultimately useless behaviour. One way that The Art of Living can help reduce overthinking is by teaching readers how to cultivate a sense of acceptance and detachment. Bratman GN, Hamilton JP, Hahn KS, Daily GC, Gross JJ. Nature experience reduces rumination and subgenual prefrontal cortex activation. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2015;112(28):8567-8572. doi:10.1073/pnas.1510459112 Ehring T. Thinking too much: rumination and psychopathology. World Psychiatry. 2021;20(3):441-442. doi:10.1002/wps.20910

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I took some psychology courses once upon a time, so I wasn't completely unprepared for the language and terminology introduced in this book. It was a lot, but the way the theory was laid down felt casual and very accessible. I was personally slightly annoyed by the -very- down-to-earth presentation, but that's more a cultural issue and a pet peeve than an actual criticism, because I can't deny the many examples and metaphors helped me process the ideas better. The biology part of this book I found fascinating and immediately had to google a couple of things to find out more. For people struggling under the burden of overthinking, it’s all too easy to develop a fear of one’s own trigger thoughts. After all, if you feel at their mercy, you might be tempted to avoid them occurring in the first place. Unfortunately, not only is this largely futile, it’s also counterproductive – avoidance of triggering situations will hamper your life and, moreover, to the extent that you’re at all successful in avoiding situations that prompt trigger thoughts, you won’t get the chance to practise letting go of these thoughts. After all, you can’t learn to ride a bike without a bike. Guru will give you a mysterious smile and will eventually disclose that he had been meditating in a forest full of other monks who themselves either left their homes earlier or are orphans. If you’re struggling with procrastination, then you might benefit from reading this book. It explains why we often put off doing what needs to be done and offers practical advice on how to overcome this problem. This book contains modern science, Buddhism, and a bit of humor to relay the message of loving your life.

If you struggle with overthinking, we’ve compiled a list of over 20 of the best books for overthinkers that may help you. There is a fine line between thinking and overthinking. How to know when I'm crossing the line? Why am I asking this is because we all know we need to think before we take actions. Now, once an action is taken, you can't really do anything about it and that is absolutely fine. BUT, when you are about to take an action (in certain cases) you are taking into account the possible outcomes. Based on that either you change your modus operandi or you don't take the action at all. Anxiety can be a paralyzing force. For many, it is at the heart of their indecision and overthinking. If you want to break your bad habits, read Rewire by Richard O’Connor or Unwinding Anxiety by Judson Brewer. This explores the ways in which our beliefs and agreements with ourselves and others can shape our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. In the book, Ruiz suggests that overthinking is often a result of not being true to ourselves and of breaking these agreements.So, it’s not the trigger thought in and of itself that will overwhelm you and lead to a variety of unpleasant symptoms; nor is it the amount of trigger thoughts you have (everyone has them). The problems arise if you continuously jump on to each train – that is, if you begin to analyse the thought and engage in extensive worry or rumination – then it’s like you’re adding more and more carriages to the train, one after another; the train gets heavier and slower, and will eventually have trouble passing even the slightest hill. The same goes for your trigger thoughts: the more time you spend engaging in these thoughts, the slower and heavier you will feel.

Seemingly innocuous events spiral into a cacophony of doubts and demons. Psychologist and anxiety expert, David Carbonell, has seen it all. I found the formatting to be a bit too jumbled, and off-the-cuff. I also felt that the material could have been presented in a more effective fashion.Healthline has strict sourcing guidelines and relies on peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions, and medical associations. We avoid using tertiary references. You can learn more about how we ensure our content is accurate and current by reading our editorial policy.