Overthinking in a Nutshell: When Your Mind Won’t Turn Off
Have you ever lain in bed, exhausted, yet unable to sleep because your brain is replaying the day’s events or worrying about tomorrow? That’s overthinking. At its core, overthinking means dwelling on the same thoughts — often negative or stressful ones — to an excessive degree. Psychologists often link overthinking to rumination (continuously mulling over distressing past events) and worry(anxious focus on future uncertainties). While thinking is a normal process, overthinking is when it becomes repetitive, unproductive, and distressing. It’s like your mind is stuck in a loop, and no matter how tired you are, it keeps going.
Overthinking isn’t just a harmless quirk; it can be perilous to it can be perilous to mental health health. People who overthink often report feeling “stuck in their head,” unable to enjoy the present. For instance, you might over-analyze a casual comment from a friend (“Why did he use that tone? Is he upset with me?”) or second-guess every decision (“Did I make the right choice? What if something goes wrong?”). This constant mental chatter creates anxiety, self-doubt, and even depression over time.
The effects of overthinking on mental health are serious. It fuels anxiety – our mind’s alarm system stays on high alert, which keeps the body flooded with stress hormones like cortisol. You may notice physical symptoms too: tension headaches, a knotted stomach, a racing heartbeat. Overthinking also steals joy; it’s hard to feel happy or even present when your mind is trapped in an endless loop of concerns. Instead of enjoying a Sunday lunch with family, an overthinker might be physically there but mentally dissecting a work problem or dwelling on a mistake from last week. In the long term, this habit is linked to higher risk of mental health issues. Research shows that overanalysis and brooding are strongly correlated with depression and anxiety disorders.
The Mental and Physical Toll of Overthinking
Overthinking doesn’t just affect your mood – it can also impair how your mind works and even impact your physical health. When you’re stuck in a cycle of worry or rumination, your brain’s resources are tied up by those repetitive thoughts. Studies have found that depressive rumination (a common form of overthinking) can actually reduce working memory capacity, the part of your brain that handles immediate conscious processing. In one study, people in a depressive mood had a 12% drop in working memory performance when fixated on negative thoughts. In simple terms, overthinking can make it harder to concentrate, remember information, or make decisions – as if the constant background noise in your head slows down other cognitive functions.
Psychologically, overthinking is often fueled by cognitive distortions – biased ways of thinking that aren’t entirely rational. Do any of these sound familiar?
These distorted thoughts play on repeat during overthinking episodes. They trigger anxiety or sadness, which in turn reinforces more negative thoughts. It becomes a self-perpetuating loop that’s hard to escape. The more you think about a perceived problem, the more threatening it feels, and the more you feel compelled to keep thinking about it in an attempt to gain control or find certainty.
Biologically, what’s happening during overthinking? Neuroscience research using brain scans has shed light on how rumination and worry operate in the brain. One key player is the default mode network (DMN) – a network of brain regions that becomes active when our mind is at rest, wandering, or self-reflecting. Normally, the DMN helps us reflect on past experiences and plan for the future. But in chronic overthinkers, especially those with depression or anxiety, the DMN can become overactive and overly connected with the brain’s emotional centers.
Instead of constructive reflection, the brain ends up cycling through negative thoughts on autopilot. This kind of neural wiring may explain why it’s so hard to just will yourself to stop overthinking – the brain has literally gotten stuck in a groove.
The stress response is another factor. When our thoughts convince us we’re in danger (even if it’s just imagining social embarrassment or future failure), our body reacts as if it were true. Overthinking stressful scenarios can keep you in a semi-activated “fight or flight” state much of the time – muscles tense, heart rate elevated, poor digestion, trouble sleeping. Chronic activation of stress hormones can contribute to issues like high blood pressure, weakened immunity, and fatigue.
In Lebanese society, people have been under extraordinary stress in recent years, from economic collapse to the Beirut explosion in 2020 and the most recent war that followed. It’s no surprise that many have fallen into patterns of persistent worry. According to Gallup data, by 2019 Lebanon’s stress and worry indicators were the worst in the world, with 65% of Lebanese surveyed saying they experienced worry frequently (up 25 points from the year before).
Local mental health NGOs have reported spikes in anxiety and rumination among the population, as families grapple with questions like “How will we get through next month?” or “Should we emigrate for our children’s future?” Overthinking often thrives in such conditions of prolonged uncertainty. Our brains are wired to seek certainty and safety; when those are missing, the mind works overtime, trying to predict and prepare for every possible outcome.
However, this constant mental vigilance comes at a cost. It can lead to insomnia (ever notice how overthinking often hits hardest at night when you try to sleep?), irritability, and difficulty performing daily tasks. Instead of being present with our loved ones, we may be trapped in scenarios in our head. As one Lebanese mother put it, “I’m playing with my kids, but in my mind I’m calculating grocery expenses for the next 6 months.” Overthinking, in this way, robs us of joy and efficiency – we’re neither fully enjoying the moment nor truly solving the future.
How CBT Breaks the Overthinking Cycle
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is one of the most effective psychological approaches for problems like overthinking. If overthinking is like a mental knot, CBT is the tool that helps untangle those threads. It’s a form of talk therapy that is evidence-based – meaning it’s been tested in many scientific studies and has been proven to work for issues like anxiety, depression, and yes, chronic worry.
In fact, CBT is recommended as a first-line treatment for generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), the condition most characterized by excessive worry. Many CBT therapists in Lebanon have seen first-hand how effective these techniques can be in reducing clients’ overthinking and improving their daily functioning.
So how does CBT work, exactly? The central idea is simple but powerful: our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors are all connected. When we change how we think about a situation, we can change how we feel and how we act.
Overthinking is essentially a problem of unhelpful thought patterns. CBT targets those patterns directly. It teaches us to identify the sneaky, automatic negative thoughts fueling our anxiety and to question them, challenge them, and reframe them into more balanced thoughts.
In parallel, CBT often encourages behavioral changes – doing things a bit differently – to break the habit cycles that keep us stuck.
Let’s break down some proven CBT techniques that can help with overthinking:
1. Cognitive Restructuring (Thought Challenging): This is the cornerstone of CBT. If overthinking is being stuck on negative thoughts, cognitive restructuring is about deliberately restructuring those thoughts. A therapist (or you, acting as your own coach) will guide you to take a hard look at a worry and analyze it rationally. Suppose you keep thinking: “I’m going to mess up this work presentation and my boss will think I’m incompetent.” In CBT, we’d pause and examine this thought. What’s the evidence for and against it? Perhaps you have done fine in past presentations (evidence against the fear). Perhaps your boss has generally given good feedback (more evidence against). Even if you did stumble, would she really label you “incompetent,” or is it more likely she’d understand one slip? By scrutinizing the thought, you often find it’s exaggerated or not 100% true. Then you can reframe it to something like: “I’m prepared for this presentation. I might be a bit nervous and not perfect, but I have useful info to share and I’ll do my best.” This new thought is more realistic and self-compassionate. It immediately reduces anxiety. Studies have shown that learning to reframe “catastrophic” thoughts in this way can significantly reduce rumination and worry. It’s like giving your mind a reality check, steering it away from the what-ifs and back to the facts of the situation.
2. Guided Discovery (Socratic Questioning): This is often done with a psychologist in Lebanon or therapist, but you can practice elements of it yourself too. Here, the therapist asks a series of gentle, probing questions that help you broaden your perspective. For example, if you’re convinced “If I make one mistake at work, I’ll get fired,” the therapist might ask, “What’s the evidence that one mistake leads to firing in your company? Have you seen colleagues make errors? What happened with them?”; “If a friend were in your shoes and felt this, what would you tell them?” These questions are not to put you on the spot, but to reveal the blind spots in your thinking. Often, overthinkers assume their thoughts are facts. Guided discovery helps you realize they are hypotheses at best, and often mistaken ones. This technique is wonderfully liberating: it’s when you get those “Aha, maybe I’m worrying too much!” moments.
3. Journaling and Thought Records: When your mind is spinning, sometimes the best way to slow it down is to transfer those thoughts onto paper (or a notes app). CBT often uses thought record sheets where you jot down a situation, what thought went through your head, what emotion you felt, and then challenge that thought and write an alternative view.
Writing forces clarity. Suppose you write: “Situation: Friend didn’t reply to my message all day. Automatic Thought: She’s avoiding me because I must have done something wrong. Emotion: anxiety, sadness. Alternative Thoughts: She might just be busy or stressed; she has taken long to reply before when busy. We didn’t have any argument. Perhaps it’s not about me.” By the time you’ve filled out these columns, your anxiety about the chat silence will likely have lessened. Journaling also gives you a log to look back on. Over time, you might notice patterns like, “Whenever I’m idle in the evening I start overthinking social stuff” – which then lets you plan changes (like scheduling an activity in the evening to stay occupied).
4. Worry Time (Stimulus Control): This is a favorite technique specifically for chronic worriers. It sounds counterintuitive at first: you schedule a daily worry period. Let’s say every day from 6:30 to 6:50 pm, you allow yourself to worry about whatever’s on your mind – job, money, health, etc. You even ritualize it by perhaps sitting in a specific chair to think, or writing worries in a designated notebook. The rest of the day, if a worry pops up, you postpone it to your worry time. You tell yourself, “Not now. I’ll think about this later at 6:30.” It might feel silly, but it trains the brain to not be in worry mode 24/7. Often, when 6:30 comes, some of the things that felt urgent earlier don’t even seem worth worrying about anymore, or you handle them in that slot and then close the book. Research on GAD has found this technique helps reduce overall time spent worrying, and people report it gives them permission to live life outside their “worry appointments.”
5. Mindfulness and Grounding: Overthinking takes us out of the present moment — into the past or future. Mindfulness techniques teach the opposite: gently anchoring yourself in the here and now. Even as part of CBT, therapists often introduce simple mindfulness exercises to manage racing thoughts. For example, the “5-4-3-2-1 technique” which is a grounding exercise: you pause and note 5 things you see, 4 things you hear, 3 things you feel (tactilely), 2 things you smell, 1 thing you taste. It sounds basic, but try it the next time you’re overwhelmed by your thoughts. This sensory orientation pulls you out of your head and into your immediate environment, signaling your brain that in this moment, you are safe. Mindful breathing is another: taking slow, deep breaths and focusing attention on the breath. This can short-circuit panicky feelings that often accompany frantic overthinking. In fact, neuroscientists have found that mindfulness practices can quiet down the brain’s default mode network (that same network involved in rumination) and strengthen the connection to present-moment awareness.
6. Behavioral Activation and Distraction: Sometimes the best way to break an overthinking cycle is to do something active. CBT encourages scheduling meaningful activities, even when you don’t feel like it.
Why? Because action, especially physical movement, can reset your brain. If you’ve been sitting on the couch stewing in thoughts, going for a brisk walk around the block or doing a 10-minute home workout can jolt you out of your head. It’s hard for the brain to keep over-focusing on an internal worry when you’re moving your muscles, breathing more deeply, maybe observing the neighborhood or listening to music. Similarly, engaging in a hobby or task – cooking, gardening, calling a friend to talk about something else – can serve as a healthy distraction. This isn’t avoidance; it’s giving your mind a chance to refresh. Often after a break, you return to your prior concerns with a clearer head or you realize they weren’t as dire as they felt. In Lebanon, communal and outdoor activities are part of our culture – a quick errand to the shop downstairs, a chat with the neighbor, stepping out for a coffee – these small things can prevent the isolation that often fuels overthinking.
7. Acceptance and Self-Compassion: This might sound a bit philosophical, but it’s important. Paradoxically, one way to fight overthinking is to stop fighting your thoughts so much. CBT in its newer forms (like Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, ACT) teaches that trying not to think about something (“Don’t think about the pink elephant!”) usually backfires – you think about it even more. Instead, practice just noticing your thought: “Ah, I’m having the thought that everything will go wrong.” Acknowledge it and label it as a thought, not a fact. Sometimes even saying to yourself, “I’m worrying again, it’s just my mind doing that overthinking thing,” can give you distance. Rather than engaging with the content of the worry, you learn to let it pass like a cloud while you focus on what you actually need to do. Being kind to yourself is key here. Overthinkers are often very harsh on themselves – “What’s wrong with me? Why can’t I stop?” – which only adds more layers of self-criticism. Remind yourself that your brain is trying to protect you, albeit in an overzealous way, and thank it, but tell it you’ve got this covered. This compassionate stance calms the inner tension.
It’s important to note that CBT is collaborative. Whether you do it with a professional or on your own, it’s about consistent practice. Just like you can’t go to the gym once and expect to be fit, you can’t do one thought exercise and expect all overthinking to vanish overnight. But with repetition, you really can rewire your thought habits. The brain is plastic (it changes with experience), and CBT essentially trains your brain to default to a healthier mode of thinking. Think of it as coaching your mind: initially, it takes effort to question negative thoughts and to make yourself do that journaling or those exercises. But soon it becomes second nature. Many people who have gone through CBT say things like, “Now I automatically notice when I’m overthinking and I can pull myself out of it.” That’s the goal.
Seeking Help: Finding the Right Therapist in Lebanon
In Lebanon, there are many qualified professionals available: clinical psychologists, psychotherapists, and counselors who are trained to help people overcome issues like overthinking. A psychologist in Lebanon will typically have at least a master’s in psychology and registered with the Lebanese Order of Psychologists. A psychotherapist might be a psychologist or other mental health professional (like a counselor or social worker) who has additional training in therapy modalities like CBT. Essentially, what you want is someone who is licensed, has training in evidence-based approaches (like CBT), and with whom you feel comfortable. Check this blog of ours for for some tips for finding the right help.
At Cognitive Analytica, we are dedicated to providing evidence-based mental health support in Lebanon and beyond. Our expert psychotherapists specialize in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), personalized counseling, workplace stress management, employee counseling, and mental resilience training. We help individuals manage anxiety, stress, and life challenges, while also supporting professionals in navigating workplace difficulties, burnout prevention, and career development.
Whether you're looking for one-on-one therapy, corporate wellness solutions, or professional development services, we are here to guide you toward mental well-being.
Stay updated on our news and events! Sign up to receive our newsletter.
