Overthinking, which is similar to something called rumination, is a common difficulty people experience. People might think about it as “just worrying” or believe that they aren’t able to change how they think. It might be a symptom of anxiety or a symptom of another disorder. It can lead to worse mental health outcomes, despite being a fairly common symptom. Overthinking might also happen for people once in a while and not be too difficult to manage, or it might happen nearly constantly and make it hard to live your life. Overthinking is when you have a topic on your mind that you continue to go over and over without getting much closer to solving the problem or changing how you feel about a situation. We sometimes think that going over things in our mind will help us prepare for dealing with them, but when we are overthinking, we’re not effectively addressing things. Instead, it’s like we’re on a circular train track that has no beginning or end, and we’re riding the train of thoughts without getting anywhere. Sometimes it looks like asking “what if?” questions and either only answering them with potential negative outcomes, or never answering them but continuing to ask the same questions over and over.
Regardless of how difficult it makes your life, there are things you can do to help curb overthinking. The first step is to recognize what is happening and accept that the pattern is not helpful or effectively preparing you for dealing with a situation. DBT skills can help get you to a more active place and decrease the impact of overthinking. These aren’t the only DBT skills that you can use, but I wanted you to have a sample of how the skills in each module might help. The good news is that, because overthinking is passive, becoming active and using almost any skill can help a lot!
Mindfulness skills for overthinking:
The Observe skill, used to observe your thoughts, can alert you to the pattern, while Wise Mind and Effectively can help you decide to break from that pattern. Practicing these skills using Non-judgment will help as well.
Interpersonal Effectiveness skills for overthinking:
Though overthinking might be happening mostly in your own mind, it might lead to the emotion of anxiety, and you might at times find yourself with an action urge that leads to problems in relationships with other people. When this happens, identify what your highest priority is in the situation (objectives, relationships, or self-respect), and use the skill that goes along with that priority. DEAR MAN for objectives effectiveness, GIVE for relationship effectiveness, and FAST for self-respect effectiveness. Situations that might lead to needing the DEAR MAN skill might be when you are overthinking and need to ask for help, or set a limit with someone, so that you can address your thoughts.
Emotion Regulation skills for overthinking:
Generally, starting with Check the Facts can help you determine if you might also need to use Opposite Action or Problem-Solving. If the emotion fits the facts and acting on the emotion is effective, you might act, or you might use Problem Solving to address unwanted emotions. If the emotion fits the facts, but acting on it isn’t effective, you would use Opposite Action. If the emotion doesn’t fit the facts, and acting on the emotion isn’t effective, you would use Opposite Action. Finally, if the emotion doesn’t fit the facts and acting on the emotion is effective, you might choose to act and accept the consequences of acting.
Distress Tolerance skills for overthinking:
If the overthinking and intensity of your emotions hasn’t reached skills-breakdown point, then you might use Reality Acceptance skills such as Turning the Mind where you would turn the mind over to acceptance, and then use Radical Acceptance to come to terms with the fact that you maybe don’t have an answer to the problem that you’re thinking about, can’t predict/control the future, or don’t know what to do. You might need to use Willingness to help yourself take the actions that would be effective when you are really frustrated with the situation. If you have reached the skills breakdown point, you might use STOP, then TIP to address your body chemistry, and either wise mind ACCEPTS or IMPROVE the moment before moving into the other types of skills.
Being more in control of overthinking can lead to a better day-to-day life, so using skills to manage and become a more active participant in your own mind will help you have more peace. I hope that you have found these options helpful and will try to apply the skills when you find yourself in that circular train of thought!
References:
Linehan, M. M. (2015). DBT® skills training handouts and worksheets (2nd ed.). The Guilford Press.
Watkins, E. R., & Roberts, H. (2020). Reflecting on rumination: Consequences, causes, mechanisms and treatment of rumination. Behaviour research and therapy, 127, 103573.
Qasim, T. B., Sahar, A., Nihal, T., & Bashir, A. (2022). The effect of overthinking on mental health: a case study from university students in Multan district. Review of Applied Management and Social Sciences, 5(2), 255-262.
About the authorHeather Smith (she/her), Psy. D. is a licensed clinical psychologist specializing in Dialectical Behavior Therapy and trauma treatment. She approaches treatment from a non-judgmental and compassionate stance and assists clients in making changes to help make life worth living. She is passionate about helping people heal by giving them the tools they need and encouraging them at every step.