Why "Overthinking" Can Be A Misleading Concept

I often hear people tell me or others "You're just overthinking." when they're caught in a negative thought spiral. People often apply this concept to themselves, calling on themselves to "stop over thinking", often in vain.
In this video I explain why this way of thinking about things is often ineffective: the term "overthinking" implies that the problem is that we're thinking about something TOO MUCH, whereas in reality, the problem is usually HOW we're thinking about it.
The solution thus lies not in thinking less or thinking about a certain problem less, but in finding new, more positive, truthful, or empowering ways to think about the situation, or ways to think in general about everything.
In this video I talk about some ways we can do this, including cognitive behavioral therapy. I recommend the books "Feeling Good" and "When Panic Attacks", both by David Burns, for depression and anxiety, respectively. I also talk about how going on walks can benefit. And lastly, I describe how both talking to new people, and journaling, can be useful tools for helping us get into new mindsets.
Next time you hear the word "overthinking", maybe try to steep the discussion in the direction of new ways of thinking, and use language and terms that better communicate this.

[@sylviaodhner]

I agree with everything you say here, I think these are good points. I have thought that I was over-thinking before, and I didn't think of it as meaning "thinking too much," I thought of it more as thinking excessively about something that wasn't important or helpful to me, and continuing to think about the thing was causing me anxiety. For instance, if I'm continuing to think about whether or not someone else wants something, and I'm not communicating with the person at all, then thinking about that one thing and fixating on it for a long period of time is not going to help me. So I wouldn't say I was over-thinking in general, I would say I was over-thinking that one thing. It would have been more useful for me to tell myself "I have very little information about this and I can't make any conclusions at this time," and then move on to something else.

[@AlexZorach]

I think that makes sense. One problem here is that, at least to me, when I hear the word "overthinking", the distinction that you make here (between thinking too much in general, vs. thinking too much about a highly specific thing, in a specific way) is not immediately clear. Keep in mind, when someone is struggling with these things, they're not necessarily in the most rational mindset, and they're thus not necessarily going to make all these subtle distinctions. This is why I think not using the term is useful. It's like, yes, the concept can be useful for some people...that's why I titled this video "can be a misleading concept" and didn't say "is a bad concept" or "is a misleading concept". I recognize that the idea can help some people or make sense to them or push them in an empowering direction. My experience is that, for me, it doesn't help me much, and I've also witnessed numerous conversations as well as interactions online where it didn't seem to help other people too, so I do know that there are a lot of people for whom it comes across more the way I described in this video. I don't know if this makes sense?

[@sylviaodhner]

Yes. Even though I think it can be useful for me to apply it to my own thinking, I recognize that it's not always a useful concept for others.