Many Sides To The Coin

I over-think things. If I am looking for a solution or trying to figure someone out, I imagine all the possibilities for the way things or the reason things occurred. I even predict the outcomes. I see a chess game in my mind and am very good at predicting cause and effect.

Is this a good or bad thing? Does everybody obsess this much or is it OCD?

Does it also mean that you find it hard to make a decision about something? How important are the things you are analyzing so much?

My mother is very unsure when it comes to making decisions, even if it's not very important. For example, My husbands birthday is approaching and she really wanted to get something for him (although we said it is not necessary). First she talked to me about what to get, then she decided on something, then she changed her mind about it, then she found two different options and then she needed my opinion again.

Can you give an example of something that you think you were overanalyzing?

Hello TishaBuv: Well... I don't know if this is a good or a bad thing... or if it could possibly be considered to be OCD. But if it is a tendency that is bothersome to you then it may be something you want to try to work on in some way or other. From my perspective, it's really a matter of degree. It might be something you'd want to discuss with a therapist if you have one, or would want to see one.

I personally have a tendency to want to check everything twice & to want to keep poking at things I'm working on over-&-over... sometimes to the point where I do more harm than good. I suppose someone might say that this was OCD-like behavior. But I'm aware that I do it & it's not a big enough concern that I feel the need to seek therapy for it. It's just part of my overall personality.

I over-think everything, to the point sometimes I face difficulties deciding whether to do or buy something or not. It is the way how my mind works. I think of myself more analytical than most people. That is all.

Just out of curiosity, is this your own self judgment or someone else's? I have been told frequently that I overthink things but every time I ask the person doing the asking what the appropriate level of thinking is and how that is determined, they can't tell me.

I played poker professionally for twenty-four years, and have written a book on no-limit Texas Hold'em. The part of my book that has received the most critical acclaim is the section on reading people. I read them, then predict the outcome determining whether to check, bet or call. As for chess; I am a chess master - this over-thinking (as you call it) comes in very handy. (note the sunglasses - very poker-esque)

Is it causing you more difficulty in your life or does it cause you less difficulty because you think things through so thoroughly? Therein lies the answer.

Everyone doesn't. But I don't consider it an obsession - at least for me. As for the OCD - I've been dx'd at one time or another with five personality disorders...they haven't decided I have OCD yet.

OCD is a quite narrow disorder. All obsessing is not OCD. Actually, MOST obsessing is not OCD.

Still, even without OCD, obsessions can be a sign of mental ill health, of course.

I suggest you complete a Y-BOCS checklist. It is a good indicator of not only OCD but narrowing it down to the sub-type. There is one for what you are experiencing. I too reherse every contingincy, every possibility, every chance in my head. I will even practise coversations over and over.
https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&sourc...RgQKo04SHgsIJA
I recommend anyone complete this.

Sorry to hog but I don't seem to have a subtype...

Or tell me what I am. I had this for 33 years now...

http://s29.postimg.org/n2fl1t2hz/ocd.png

I do similar. For me it started out as a mean of trying to handle especially important events that included social communications. I have since then noticed I don't do any better than if I improvise. I still do it to a degree though.

It's like that with other things I plan too, I make a mental image of it and different things that might happen. With that I am not so bothered by doing it since I saw it had some positive results.

I guess I learned it from my mother. I have mastered reading between the lines. It's like a chess game. I ponder every possible scenario, plotting, thinking like the other person would think, predicting what the other guy will do. If I move here/ he'll move there.

It has probably been helpful to me, but it makes me wonder if I'd just be better off if I didn't do that. I get so lost in thought and imaginary conversations.

Or looking at a concept like psychology. Here I am trying to figure out if I really have diagnosable MI or just bad relationship skills. I can come up with infinite ways of looking at it until I am totally lost. I could take every behavior and give 50 different explanations.

This is so me. I created a thread for it called "Internal dialogues".