Overthinking as a barometer

After healing the depression and anxiety that had plagued me for over a decade, I was still surprised when overthinking stuck around. 

As someone who was highly functioning, I knew how to hide my symptoms, my emotional landscape and appear on the surface as extremely well-balanced. When I didn’t need to pretend anymore, I was able to express myself and my (perceived) turbulence a lot easier because I had gained something I had never felt - freedom and trust within myself, yet I was still confused why I was an ‘overthinker’.

So, I got curious. If I no longer have anxiety or depression, why am I overthinking? 

Aside: Chatgpt told me that a survey by Mind UK found that 61% of people with anxiety experience overthinking regularly, causing difficulty in focusing on daily tasks. When I tried to find the report this came from, I couldn’t. Which doesn’t mean it isn’t true, because the report is probably there somewhere and instinctually it sounds plausible. But my reason for sharing this is to highlight that overthinking with anxiety is really common. It’s why I focus on anxiety AND overthinking in my hypnotherapy practice.

Let’s get clear on what overthinking is, how it differs from anxiety and why it often accompanies it, before we dive into how to use overthinking as a barometer.

Overthinking Defined

Overthinking is a pattern of persistent and repetitive thoughts where you are excessively analysing situations, decisions, and problems. When we are overthinking we often rerun or dwell on past events, worry about future scenarios (although worrying is different), or repeatedly examine choices from multiple angles without reaching a resolution. This thought pattern typically goes beyond productive problem-solving and is instead a circular, unproductive process. It uses up cognitive load in unproductive or unhealthy ways. 

Anxiety Defined

Anxiety is a natural emotional and physiological response to perceived threats or stress, characterised by feelings of worry, fear, or unease. It involves both psychological symptoms (racing thoughts, feeling of dread) and physical responses (increased heart rate, sweating, muscle tension). While some anxiety is normal and even helpful, it becomes a disorder when it's excessive, persistent, and interferes with daily functioning.

Key Differences

Anxiety and overthinking differ in several ways. Anxiety is primarily an emotional response with physical manifestations and can exist without overthinking. It's often more immediate and visceral, triggered by specific situations or general stress. Overthinking, on the other hand, is primarily a cognitive process that doesn't necessarily involve the physical symptoms or emotional intensity of anxiety. Someone can overthink without feeling anxious, such as when analysing a decision from multiple angles. 

How They Interrelate

Anxiety and overthinking often feed into each other in a cyclical relationship. Anxiety can trigger overthinking as people try to regain control through excessive analysis of their situations or feelings. Conversely, overthinking can heighten anxiety by amplifying worries and creating catastrophic scenarios in one's mind, feeding the energetic reponses. For example, someone experiencing anxiety about an important business meeting might start overthinking every possible outcome, which in turn increases their anxiety, which they then try to combat through more (over)thinking, creating a self-perpetuating cycle. This interaction can make both conditions more intense and harder to manage without appropriate coping strategies like hypnotherapy. 

Overthinking as a barometer

What I personally love about overthinking is that it now signals to me where and when my energy is out of balance. If my brain, my cognitive functioning, is too excessive, it is signalling to me that I’m not embodied - I am not in my body. 

If I’m not embodied, I can’t truly know how I’m feeling or hear the guidance about a situation. It is showing me how my third eye chakra is energetically off balance and highlighting that I’m mentally being too left-brained - logical, rational, masculine energy focused, and I’m missing out on an important component: the right-brain - the felt-intuitive experience, the openness, the curiosity of the feminine.

To rebalance, I connect inwards, I allow the energy that has collected as ‘overthinking’ to be redirected to other expressions and this allows me to come back to a sense of peace, clarity and the right course of action. Hypnotherapy also does this by taking us out of our beta brainwave state, into deeper trance states that allow for a more inner, embodied connection.

Ultimately, when we have excessive energy in our systems, we become blocked and we’re often unable to release it, which is why anxiety and overthinking can manifest. When managed properly though we can use them as insightful gifts to support our journey.

Do you want to break free from your anxiety or overthinking in 6 weeks? Contact me about my 6 week rapid reset hypnotherapy approach and take action today: hello@laurenwigmore.co.uk