- Tina Freemantle
Overthinking can harm your health
The phrase “overthinking” is not inherently medical, research demonstrates that the tendency can have significant negative effects on our health. Overthinking frequently entails concentrating on the negative, revisiting the past, lingering on unpleasant memories, or worrying about the future.
Here are the top ten damaging impacts on your overthink8n*non your mental emotional and physical health.
Anxiety: Over-thinkers are generally stressed people. They might conjure up a wide variety of possible outcomes in their mind. Living in a continuous stat of negativity can trigger anxiety, tension, and stress. Too much anxiety may make you feel fatigued and experience problems sleeping. In extreme cases it can lead to suicidal thoughts.
Depression: Pondering on the past can lead to melancholy as can dwelling too much on events that “might have occurred differently.”
Insomnia: Have you ever felt physically fatigued and yet when you go to bed you can’t sleep because your mind is running wild with thoughts. You toss and turn in order to make yourself comfortable but not being able to lay still stops you from sleeping and recovering.
Decision Paralysis: Spending excessive time overthinking might make decision-making challenging. Whether it’s taking action in your business or the choices you make about going to the gym, who you spend your time with, your lifestyle.
Live a shorter life: The Harvard Medical School compared the brains of people aged 60 to 70 to those aged 100 and beyond and found that the younger group had lower amounts of a protein linked to calming down brain activity. The brain works hard to replenish protein supplies, and while you won’t necessarily die from overthinking in your thirties, overuse of the brain can lead to unanticipated consequences.
Unbalanced chemical composition: according to Neuropsychologists constantly thinking about worst case scenario leads the brain being unable to distinguish between potential stress and actual stress. This causes a chemical imbalance that impacts the memory and feeling system.
Variable Appetite: you might not feel like eating at all or might comfort eat in larger volumes which lead to weight related health issues.
Loss of creativity: according to Stanford University neurologists complex drawings require more thought which is why they are difficult to draw. So when your thoughts are preoccupied with overthinking you have less capacity to be creative.
Social isolation: you might pass up on social gatherings because your fear peoples perception of you.
Higher risk of developing a mental illness: chances of developing Anxiety, PTSD and borderline disorders increase if you over-analyse mistakes, problems and issues.