Anxiety, worry and overthinking

Why it happens

Overthinking runs in two directions. Rumination faces the past and asks why: why did this happen, what is wrong with me. Worry faces the future and asks what if. Researchers describe a shared engine underneath both, called repetitive negative thinking: thought that repeats, feels hard to control, and circles a negative theme.

The loop keeps going because it feels useful. Rumination feels like analysis, and worry feels like preparation, so stopping can feel careless. In practice, each pass tends to make problems look bigger and solutions look fewer. Worry also works as a kind of avoidance: the busy stream of words keeps a feared feeling from fully arriving, so it never fully passes either.

Pressure from many directions can feed the loop: exams and results, a demanding job, decisions about family and relationships, money, health. None of these makes overthinking inevitable, and none of them is a personal failing. They are simply the material the mind chews on.

What tends to help

The encouraging part is that overthinking responds to training. The approaches that work do not ask you to empty your mind or force yourself to think positive. They change what the mind does next.

• Noticing the loop and naming it, which is often the moment you step outside it.
• Asking honestly whether a line of thought is useful, and acting on the answer.
• Shifting from abstract "why" questions to concrete "how" questions, such as how you want to handle the next hour.
• Giving a spiral a short stretch of absorbing activity, such as a walk or a task with your hands, so you can return to the problem with a clearer mind.
• Setting a fixed, short window each day for worries, written down, and postponing them outside it.

Structured therapy can go further. Approaches such as rumination focused CBT, mindfulness based cognitive therapy and metacognitive therapy have each been studied for repetitive thinking and worry. You can read more about that research in our article on understanding overthinking.

How we work with it at The Good Place

Individual therapy with Dr. Neha Achrekar (MBBS, Post Graduate in Psychology) is a space to understand your own loops: what sets them off, what keeps them going, and what you can do differently when they start. Sessions are available in person at our practice in Nerul, Navi Mumbai, and online, wherever you are. We go at your pace, and there is no judgement about how long you have been stuck or how small the trigger seems.

When worry is driven mainly by work, such as pressure to perform, hard decisions, leading a team or building a company, coaching with Hemant Rehani can help. Hemant is a Marshall Goldsmith certified executive coach and a life and relationship coach. Coaching focuses on the practical side: making decisions with more clarity, setting habits that protect your attention, and handling pressure at work. It is not therapy, and if what you are carrying needs therapeutic support, we will say so and point you to the right place.

If you are not sure which is right for you, that is fine. Get in touch, tell us a little about what is going on, and we will help you choose.

When to reach out

• Worry or overthinking is getting in the way of your sleep, work, studies or relationships for weeks at a time.
• You have tried to manage it on your own and the loops keep coming back as loud as before.
• You are avoiding people, places or tasks because of the worry they bring up.
• Your mood has been low for a while, or you feel tense and on edge most days.