How Do I Stop Overthinking? Understanding the Anxiety Cycle
To stop overthinking, you usually have to change how you relate to your thoughts rather than argue with them. Overthinking and anxiety feed each other in a loop: an anxious thought sets off a stress response, and that response produces more anxious thoughts. You can interrupt the loop by noticing it, postponing worry to a set time, moving your body, and getting support if it keeps coming back.
If you’re reading this at 2 a.m. while your brain replays a conversation from last Tuesday, welcome. You’re in good company. Most of the people I sit with have tried to think their way out of overthinking, and most are exhausted from it. The good news is that this is a pattern, not a flaw in who you are, and patterns can change.
What is overthinking?
Overthinking is what we call it when your mind keeps chewing on the same worry, memory or decision without getting anywhere. Clinicians usually split it into two flavours. Rumination tends to dwell on the past (“Why did I say that?”), while worry looks ahead (“What if it all goes wrong?”) (Simply Psychology). Researchers group both under the heading of repetitive negative thinking, and it shows up across many conditions, including generalized anxiety, social anxiety, PTSD and OCD (Therapist.com).
One thing worth knowing: overthinking is not a diagnosis on its own. It’s more often a symptom or a companion of something else, like anxiety, depression or past trauma (GoodRx). So if you overthink, that doesn’t mean something is wrong with you. It means your mind is working hard on something.
Why does overthinking happen? The anxiety cycle explained
Here’s the part that surprises people. Overthinking is usually your mind trying to protect you. When we feel anxious, the brain tries to lower the discomfort by running through possible scenarios and predicting what will happen (GoodRx). Reflection is useful. The trouble starts when reflection turns into rumination and our mental energy gets stuck in repetition instead of moving toward an answer (Positive Psychology).
The anxiety cycle tends to run like this:
A trigger thought shows up. Something small: an unanswered text, a comment from your boss, a physical sensation.
Your body responds. Your system goes on alert, and stress hormones like cortisol add physical sensations that your mind reads as more evidence that something is wrong (Simply Psychology).
More thoughts arrive. Thought leads to anxiety, anxiety leads to more thoughts, and the loop tightens (Simply Psychology).
Overthinking feels like control, so you keep doing it. It feels like problem-solving. In reality it usually keeps you stuck in threat mode instead of getting you to a solution.
Research on rumination backs this up. Nolen-Hoeksema’s well-known work found that people who ruminate turn their attention inward, replaying negative feelings and running through “what if” scenarios, which keeps distress going and can get in the way of solving the problem (Positive Psychology; Nolen-Hoeksema, 2000). Rumination can also make it harder to regulate emotions and is linked with higher anxiety (Aldao et al., 2010, as discussed by Positive Psychology).
Another point I come back to often with clients: overthinking isn’t a fixed personality trait. Clinical psychologist Pia Callesen writes that worry and rumination are learned strategies we use, consciously or not, to deal with thoughts and feelings (Psyche). Learned means it can be unlearned.
What are the signs of overthinking and anxiety?
Overthinking doesn’t only live in your head. Persistent worry and rumination can show up as insomnia, trouble concentrating and low energy, and those symptoms then create new worries about the symptoms themselves (Psyche). You might notice:
Replaying conversations or decisions again and again
Difficulty letting go of a worry, even when you know it’s out of proportion (Mayo Clinic)
Mind reading, meaning you feel sure you know what someone else is thinking without much evidence (GoodRx)
Trouble sleeping because your mind won’t switch off
Feeling tired, restless or unable to concentrate
Scolding yourself for “overthinking again,” which usually adds another layer of stress
That last one matters. Many people with anxiety know they’re overthinking and feel bad about it, yet still can’t stop. That’s not a failure of willpower. You can’t out-think a thinking trap (Simply Psychology).
How can I stop overthinking? Practical strategies that help
None of these will work overnight. Think of them as ways of loosening the loop a little at a time.
1. Name it when it starts. Try saying to yourself, “I’m ruminating right now,” or “this is worry, not fact.” Noticing a thought as a mental event, rather than getting tangled up in it, takes away some of its pull (Positive Psychology).
2. Give your worry an appointment. Callesen suggests setting aside about half an hour a day at a specific time to worry and ruminate freely. When thoughts show up outside that window, you note them and postpone them. It’s a gentle way to test the belief that overthinking is out of your control (Psyche). Some people find a shorter window works better, so adjust it to fit you.
3. Take one small action. Even a small step can disrupt the loop and shift your attention from analysis to choice (Positive Psychology). Behavioural activation, which just means moving into action however small, is one of the research-backed techniques drawn from CBT and ACT (Simply Psychology). Wash a dish. Step outside. Text a friend about something unrelated.
4. Move your body. There is plenty of research suggesting exercise can ease anxiety and depression, and it may help with chronic overthinking too (GoodRx). A walk is enough.
5. Be thoughtful about who you vent to. Talking things through feels supportive, but research on co-rumination suggests that going over the same problems again and again with friends can make anxiety worse. A friend who helps you move forward is better than one who helps you stay in the spin (GoodRx).
6. Practise mindfulness. Research suggests mindfulness may act as a buffer. When you practise it, rumination becomes less tied to increased negative emotion, so the thoughts may still show up but hit less hard (Therapist.com).
A word of caution: many of the things we reach for to calm worry, like trying to push thoughts away or control them, can backfire and lead to even more overthinking (Psyche). If you’ve tried hard to “just stop” and it hasn’t worked, that’s useful information, not proof you’re doing it wrong.
When should I consider therapy for overthinking?
Anxious thoughts are part of being human. It may be time to reach out when:
Worry shows up most days and feels hard to control
It’s affecting your sleep, work, relationships or enjoyment of life
You’re using strategies that bring short relief but leave you more stuck
You’ve noticed your mood dropping alongside the overthinking
For context, Mayo Clinic describes generalized anxiety disorder as excessive worry about several things on most days for at least six months, with difficulty controlling it (Mayo Clinic). You don’t need to meet any diagnostic threshold, or wait six months, to deserve support. Only a qualified professional can assess what’s going on for you, so please treat this article as information rather than a diagnosis.
If you are ever in crisis or thinking about harming yourself, call or text 9-8-8 (Canada’s Suicide Crisis Helpline) at any time.
How can therapy help with overthinking and anxious thoughts?
Therapy gives you a space to slow the loop down and understand your own version of it. Different approaches come at it from different angles:
Metacognitive strategies focus on changing how you relate to worry and rumination, rather than the content of each worry (Psyche).
CBT and ACT offer tools such as behavioural activation and learning to hold thoughts more loosely (Simply Psychology).
Rumination-focused CBT has been studied specifically for this pattern. One small study found it significantly reduced both rumination and worry during and after treatment, though more research is needed (Therapist.com).
As a social worker, I also care about the context around your thoughts: your stress load, your relationships, your history, and what support you have. Overthinking rarely happens in a vacuum, and sometimes the most helpful thing is to work on what’s underneath it.
Frequently asked questions
Is overthinking a mental illness? Not by itself. It isn’t a recognized disorder, but it is often a symptom of conditions like anxiety or depression, and can also contribute to them (GoodRx).
What’s the difference between overthinking and anxiety? Anxiety is an emotional state, and overthinking is a mental habit that often feeds it (Positive Psychology). They tend to run together, which is why it can feel impossible to tell where one ends and the other begins.
Why can’t I just stop overthinking? Because it usually feels like it’s helping. Rumination can feel like control, but it typically backfires and keeps anxiety going (Simply Psychology). Trying to stop by force often makes it louder.
What’s the difference between rumination and worry? Rumination usually looks backward at what already happened, and worry looks forward at what might happen (Simply Psychology). Both are forms of overthinking.
Can talking to friends make overthinking worse? Sometimes. Co-rumination, which is repeatedly rehashing problems together, has been linked to worse anxiety (GoodRx).
Can therapy really help me stop overthinking? Many people find it does. Approaches like CBT, ACT and metacognitive strategies are designed to help you break the worry and rumination loop, and a therapist can tailor them to you.
About Life Restoration Counselling Group
Life Restoration Counselling Group is a psychotherapy practice offering in-person sessions in Whitby, Ontario, and virtual sessions across Ontario and Alberta. We work with adults who feel stuck in anxious thoughts and want practical, compassionate support.
Ready to quiet the noise? Book a free consultation here and let’s talk about what overthinking looks like for you.
References
Aldao, A., Nolen-Hoeksema, S., & Schweizer, S. (2010). Emotion-regulation strategies across psychopathology: A meta-analytic review. Clinical Psychology Review. (Cited as discussed in the Positive Psychology article below.)
Callesen, P. How to stop overthinking. Psyche. https://psyche.co/guides/how-to-stop-overthinking-with-help-from-metacognitive-strategies
GoodRx. How can I stop overthinking everything? https://www.goodrx.com/blog/how-can-i-stop-overthinking-everything/
Mayo Clinic. Generalized anxiety disorder: Symptoms and causes. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/generalized-anxiety-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20360803
Nolen-Hoeksema, S. (2000). The role of rumination in depressive disorders and mixed anxiety/depressive symptoms. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 109(3), 504–511. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-843X.109.3.504
Positive Psychology. The overthinking cycle. https://positivepsychology.com/?p=190866
Simply Psychology. How rumination makes anxiety worse. https://www.simplypsychology.org/how-rumination-makes-anxiety-worse.html
Therapist.com. Rumination: What it is and how to stop it. https://therapist.com/brain-and-body/rumination/
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