By: Atharva Pandey

National/World Editor

Overthinking is so much more than just thinking too much. It is a phenomenon, a worldwide pandemic that impacts millions of people daily. It can make a perfectly rational person question everything they have ever known. A simple decision can develop into a complex mental loop in which you calculate every possibility of events that could ever happen. 

An overthinker lives life on expert difficulty. You know you are an overthinker when you constantly rehash the same thought for the fiftieth time. For example, you spend more time analyzing whether or not to send a text versus crafting the actual text message. Am I being too formal? Am I being too casual? Is this too forward? Should I use two emojis or three? Should I text back right now, or wait a couple of hours? Often, these thoughts lead to a five-hour research project on texting etiquette. 

Overthinking often originates from a simple decision. For example, you sit down to decide what movie you will watch with your dinner tonight. One thing leads to another, and two hours after you are done with your food, you are still sitting there scrolling through Netflix, desperately trying to find something. The whole time, you are contemplating various things. Should I pick a comedy? What about a thriller? No, that’s too stressful. What about a horror movie? Too scary. What about a documentary? No, too much learning. By the time you have made a decision, you will be passed out on your couch from exhaustion. 

This problem gets even worse on social media. You will go on Instagram, hoping to get your mind off things with a casual six-hour scroll. The first reel you see is of an 18-year-old who got rich off of cryptocurrency. The second reel you see is a motivational David Goggins clip, telling you that every second not being utilized is throwing your life away. All this short-form content makes you prone to doubting yourself and wondering whether everything you do is worth it, which leaves you even more open to death spirals. 

Overthinking starts to become really problematic in social situations. You start questioning the simplest interactions. Did they smile at you or was it more of a polite wince? Do they want you to sit next to them? All this second-guessing and over-analyzation is exhausting and takes a toll on your mind. 

Many overthinkers are clearly aware of their problem yet cannot help themselves from falling into the trap. You try to make a decision and move on, yet constantly find yourself coming back to it. The best way to avoid overthinking is to embrace the spotlight effect. You have to realize that nobody is constantly in focus at all times. A lot of the things you do slip by people. After all, nobody is going to be analyzing how many y’s you put at the end of your hey, right?