Many people notice thoughts that keep circling. Questions about what happened before. Concerns about what could happen. Uncertainty about the now.
These thoughts spiral and are unproductive. The pattern, known as overthinking, commonly occurs with anxiety.
At Mental Health Counselor PLLC, New York City, we notice patterns of overthinking and anxiety with many of our clients who come in for psychotherapy.
The connection between anxiety and negative thinking requires further examination.
Core Processes
Overthinking is a type of perseverative cognition. This is the repetitive, negative, and problem-oriented thinking that lacks constructive solutions.
Psychologists divide overthinking into two distinct categories.
Rumination is a preoccupation with the past. This involves repeatedly thinking about unfavorable outcomes, events, and losses. People often become preoccupied with questions regarding the cause of the losses and what the losses say about their value as a person. This subtype often includes brooding. This is a self-critical style of thinking that is passive and that worsens negative thinking.
Worry is an attention problem that is focused on the future. Worry manifests as a series of questions that begin with, “what if…” Worrying about potential dangers and adverse outcomes. In generalized anxiety disorder, excessive worrying is a problem. It is often difficult to stop worrying, and the anxiety often becomes disproportionate to the real-life dangers or consequences.
There are several internalizing conditions associated with the process of rumination.
The Bidirectional Relationship
Anxiety and overthinking are interconnected.
Anxiety heightens threat perception. It engages the amygdala and the prefrontal cortex, involved in self-referential thinking. This hypervigilant state locks a person to potential threats and therefore increases worry and rumination. The brain interprets these as problem-solving tasks and preparations.
On the other hand, persistent repetitive negative thinking breeds and fortifies anxiety.
- Negative rumination biases the negative. It clouds the perception of past events and makes them seem more threatening. It makes future events seem more dire.
- Worry evokes a physiological state of danger. It increases heart rate, muscle tension, and induces shallow breathing.
Over time, this cycle of sympathetic nervous system engagement strengthens anxiety disorder symptoms.
Repetitive negative thinking concerns the core of anxiety disorders among studies.
Worry is the core component of GAD. In other forms of anxiety, people tend to ruminate about social blunders or bodily sensations.
There is a correlation between the level of repetitive negative thinking and anxious apprehension.
Underlying Psychological Mechanisms
Multiple reasons help explain why overthinking keeps anxiety going.
- First, intolerance of uncertainty plays a major role. People who find ambiguity hard to tolerate overthink to gain control or predictability. The effort usually increases distress because uncertainty is part of life.
- Second, metacognitive beliefs support the pattern. Some individuals hold the idea that rumination or worry prevents bad things. Or prepares them better. These positive beliefs about thinking keep the process going even when it causes pain.
- Third, cognitive avoidance takes place. Repetitive thinking on an abstract level distracts from stronger emotions underneath. Sadness, shame, and fear. Focusing on analysis provides short-term relief. Unresolved feelings return later and push the cycle forward.
On a brain level, chronic repetitive negative thinking shows altered activity in the default mode network.
This network handles self-referential thought. Prolonged activation plus reduced prefrontal regulation keeps the loop active.
Impact on Functioning
Ongoing overthinking and anxiety interfere with many areas.
- Concentration becomes difficult. Decisions feel impossible.
- Sleep suffers as nighttime rumination blocks rest.
- Physical complaints appear. Fatigue. Headaches. Stomach issues from constant stress.
- In social situations, worry about judgment or past interactions leads to avoidance or withdrawal.
The pattern feeds itself. Anxiety drives overthinking. Overthinking raises anxiety. Quality of life gradually decreases.
Breaking the Pattern Through Awareness
Seeing repetitive negative thinking as a process rather than truth marks an important shift.
Many clients discover that simply labeling thoughts as “rumination” or “worry” reduces their automatic pull.
Evidence-based approaches like rumination-focused cognitive behavioral therapy examine metacognitive beliefs. They build different responses to triggers.
Mindfulness practices increase present-moment awareness. They interrupt the move into abstract repetitive thought.
Metacognitive therapy targets beliefs about the usefulness of worry or rumination.
At Mental Health Counselor PLLC, our licensed psychotherapists offer evidence-based psychotherapy for anxiety and related patterns.
We provide in-person and secure video sessions in New York City. We create a supportive setting to address these interconnected experiences.
If repetitive negative thinking and anxiety symptoms feel familiar, contact Mental Health Counselor PLLC at 212-696-4717.
Our team, including Michael Arnold, specializes in anxiety, cognitive therapy and associated challenges.
FAQs
What are the similarities between worrying and overthinking?
Overthinking comprises rumination, which is about the past, and worry, which is about the future. These are both types of repetitive negative thinking.
What is the relationship between rumination and anxiety disorders?
Rumination is a factor that increases the likelihood of anxiety and depression. It is not the case that every situation ends in a clinical disorder.
Is there the possibility of working through the connection?
Cognitive behavioral therapy and metacognitive therapy, for example, demonstrate good outcomes for decreasing the occurrence of negative thinking and associated anxiety symptoms.