This video was almost never released because I just kept overthinking it – Everything
about it
Was it good enough to be the first release after my patreon launch, should I do more
animation, maybe I should reshoot it, why do I feel this way?
Most of us have been in that position where we’re overthinking something.
Thoughts are whisking through our minds Stewing inside us
Slicing through the noise
And I started to wonder… why?
Did pondering things ever give us an advantage as humans?
Did it help us become better problem solvers?
Or does overthinking everything just mean our brain is broken?
So why do we have a tendency to overthink things?
And how can we stop?
Now in everyday language we use overthinking as an umbrella term to describe many different
thought processes.
There’s one type of overthinking called rumination, where you obsessively overthink
why something happened or why you feel a certain way.
You chew over the causes and consequences of negative emotions, rather than solutions
or anything practical.
It’s similar to worry, though worry relates to future events, while rumination is about
the past.
And some of the early research on rumination happened in pretty extraordinary circumstances.
Imagine you’re a psychology student – you’ve just started at Stanford in 1989 – and you
fill out a bunch of questionnaires for course credit (because, since the dawn of time, students
will do anything for course credit).
These questionnaires, specifically, are about depression and response styles and you do
them a few times so researchers can track how you’re feeling.
Then – there’s a huge earthquake in San Francisco.
61 people die, the Bay Bridge is damaged, it’s pretty bad.
You’re, you know, shook.
So your professors keep giving you the questionnaires to see which students would show the most
enduring symptoms of depression and post-traumatic stress.
And they found those with ruminative response styles were more likely to have high levels
of depressive and stress symptoms 7 weeks after the earthquake.
It was some of the first strong evidence that rumination exacerbates depression and post-traumatic
stress.
We also know it can increase negative thinking and impair problem solving.
Now rumination was named after the process that some mammals go through of chewing cud
to further break down plant matter and stimulate digestion.
The problem in humans is that re-chewing your thoughts can stimulate negativity because
our own biases creep in and affect how we think – when you chew and chew and chew
over a trauma or natural disaster you remember the worst parts over and over again – and
you get stuck in a negative feedback loop.
The best way to break this cycle is to be aware when you’re ruminating
Mind wandering, emotional processing and problem solving can be good types of overthinking.
Rumination is not.
Sometimes it’s hard to distinguish when you’re just emotionally processing something
or if you’re ruminating.
It can be difficult to take a step back, but try to pause and be aware of your own thoughts.
Rumination involves thought patterns that are pessimistic and have a negative angle
to them.
Sometimes you almost trick yourself into thinking through a problem and then you get stuck chewing
over the negativity.
So, some tips.
Find positive distractions: so do things you find enjoyable, absorb you and are uplifting.
Watching YouTube - if you’re still here - is a great option.
As is reading a book.
Fill your schedule - plan things.
The less time you have for negative thoughts, the better.
And challenge yourself: trying to master a task or solve a problem that will use all
of your brain power
One difference between you and a cow – well there are many differences – but one is
that they need to ruminate to properly digest their food – they need to ruminate to live.
But people don’t – and overthinking things in a negative frame of mind can be harmful.
So, take care of yourself and leave ruminating to
the cows.