[MAL10]

I have issues with over thinking everything - my mind rarely stops going over situations, normally things that haven't happened and setting up scenario's in my head of how things might unfold. I have moments of anxiety - normally when it involves me having to be true to my own feelings - for instance going to my T weekly gives me anxiety as I have to talk about me!

My T talks about this as anxiety but when I research anxiety I don't seem to match?

Any thoughts?

[EeyoreSmile]

I have to agree.. it sounds like anxiety to me. I have the same situation and issues.. It's hard for me to do anything without having thought through every single possibility involved... for me.. it;s anxiety rooted in fear that that the world is not a safe place for my emotions and for my well being, and that then leads to trying to be in control...

[MAL10]

I think I'm struggling to admit that it is an issue, because it dosen't affect my day to day living - i have days when this dosen't happen. I still power on through but keep the anxiety inside when it does happen. When looking at info on websites about anxiety I don't seem to fit all the symtoms - which also confuses me.

[retro_chic]

I think what you are referring to is called "rumination".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumination_(psychology)

I do it all the time so I know how you feel! I don't know what your other symptoms are (and I am obviously not a professional) so I can't say whether you have an anxiety disorder or not. Ruminating can be symptom of a number of mental health conditions or maybe just a personality trait kicked into over-drive.

[Sila]

My T has said that the overthinking and over analyzing is a way for me to try and collect as much information about the situation as I can, because in my case knowledge = less anxiety. If I go in knowing exactly what we're going to talk about and how we're going to say it, I'm not so anxious. There's no "what if's" or self doubts etc. This isn't possible most of the time though, so I'm learning how to reduce anxiety between appts and not overthink things so much- Writing has helped!

Also a lot of the sites n stuff on anxiety don't mention the finer details of it. Some people never have anxiety attacks, but instead go through day to day with a constant state of mild anxiety (or more), and some situations trigger an increase in physical symptoms- but not a full blown attack. That's me, but I still have anxiety even without the 'anxiety attacks'.

Overwhelming anxiety was my main concern when I first went to t a year ago. I discovered that a lot of that came from what eeyore said "anxiety rooted in fear that that the world is not a safe place for my emotions" because I grew up being belittled, etc for having emotions. I tried for years and years and years to hide them, to lock them away in a dungeon in my mind...... until I had locked away so much of my 'self' that I became severely depressed and had to seek treatment. Finally at long last started working with current t and she helped me to unlock that dungeon and free my emotions and we found out that my writing had been locked up in there too, omg so much of ME was locked up in there so much that I was pretty much existing as just a shell for awhile. I think anxiety has a lot of different faces and one size ie definition definitely does not fit all. I wish you all the best!!

[Miswimmy1]

i hav this too. It sounds to me, as Sila said, as a way to cope with anxiety. You overthink everything so that you are less likely to be caught off guard. So really you are trying to lessen your anxiety. but it counter productive becase in doing so, you make yourself more anxious.

[pbutton]

Yes, it does sound like anxiety. I can also get caught up in overthinking. I try to plan for every contingency. I do this at the expense of observing what is actually happening to me at the time.

[MAL10]

A lot of what you are saying is ringing true - I've been told (and am starting to understand) that I have a fear that others can't handle my emotions so they're kept inside and go around around and around in circles in my head! I've never had a panic attack and it doesn’t effect my life completely - but it does on occasions rule me and the way I do things. Thanks for everyone’s help on this - its definitely helped me understand it better.

Thanks

[Sannah]

I think that when you are anxious that your mind needs something to do so it ruminates. Going over and over something is sort of like OCD. Understanding how you became anxious is really important IMO. I believe that people become anxious because of instability or uncertainty while growing up. Our nervous systems are developing while growing up and they need calm and secure experiences in order to imprint and learn calmness. I think that we have plasticity, so we can undevelop and redevelop (rewire) at any time. There is also some genetics to this.

[BlessedRhiannon]

Originally Posted by Sila

My T has said that the overthinking and over analyzing is a way for me to try and collect as much information about the situation as I can, because in my case knowledge = less anxiety. If I go in knowing exactly what we're going to talk about and how we're going to say it, I'm not so anxious. There's no "what if's" or self doubts etc. This isn't possible most of the time though, so I'm learning how to reduce anxiety between appts and not overthink things so much- Writing has helped!

Also a lot of the sites n stuff on anxiety don't mention the finer details of it. Some people never have anxiety attacks, but instead go through day to day with a constant state of mild anxiety (or more), and some situations trigger an increase in physical symptoms- but not a full blown attack. That's me, but I still have anxiety even without the 'anxiety attacks'.

Yup, that pretty much describes me as well. I live in a constant state of heightened awareness...always on guard, always making sure I know what "might" happen so I can be prepared for it.

I have had panic attacks, but they are less common than just an increase in anxiety symptoms when something triggers a higher response. My panic attacks are very self contained. If you don't know what to look for and aren't paying close attention, you wouldn't know that I'm completely freaking out. My T can tell now, but I also allow my panic to show more when I'm with her.

[peaches100]

I do this too, alot! I can spend hours ruminating about a situation that happened in the past that hurt me, or that i have regrets about, and analyze the whole situation in chronological order a step at a time - replaying the whole thing in my head.

I don't know why i do it because i have already ruminated on the same thing many times already, and doing it again does not bring me any more understanding or answers than i had before. All it does is eventually make me feel extremely tired and have a slight headache.

I don't know if it's an OCD-type thinking, or if it's just that i have an extremely hard time accepting situations where a person has hurt me badly, and I never understood why it happened, and never had the opportunity to talk it over or find resolution. Not really understanding why it happened, or having any closure, makes it almost impossible for me to let go of. Yet, without the other person's input, i will never have the answers I am seeking.

Yet some part of me thinks that if i just analyze it one more time, maybe this time i will understand.

[peaches100]

I also ruminate about potentially scary or hurtful things that may come up in the future, and for which I feel unable to cope with should they occur. Because of this, I try to imagine every possible scenario ahead of time, and then how I will respond. So that i will not be caught off guard by something terrible. I want to be prepared ahead of time.

Unfortunately, we can't always know what the future brings, and I have spent many hours and days ruminating and worrying about potential bad things that never happen after all. But by then, I am exhausted by the ruminating/trying to be prepared. So i basically have put myself through the ringer by then.

I really want to change this patten.

[elysia]

I've heard it referred to as "looping." A big feature of PTSD (though, it does not in and of itself mean you have PTSD). I never had this symptom until a few more traumatic experiences happened to me and voila. I couldn't make it stop.

Originally Posted by peaches100

I do this too, alot! I can spend hours ruminating about a situation that happened in the past that hurt me, or that i have regrets about, and analyze the whole situation in chronological order a step at a time - replaying the whole thing in my head.

I don't know why i do it because i have already ruminated on the same thing many times already, and doing it again does not bring me any more understanding or answers than i had before. All it does is eventually make me feel extremely tired and have a slight headache.

I don't know if it's an OCD-type thinking, or if it's just that i have an extremely hard time accepting situations where a person has hurt me badly, and I never understood why it happened, and never had the opportunity to talk it over or find resolution. Not really understanding why it happened, or having any closure, makes it almost impossible for me to let go of. Yet, without the other person's input, i will never have the answers I am seeking.

Yet some part of me thinks that if i just analyze it one more time, maybe this time i will understand.

I could have written this word for word. All the Ts I work with say this is very common for triggers/flashbacks.... it's hard to let them go. I want to make it stop and I know thinking about it won't help, but my mind just goes there. I imagine different scenarios, rewriting memories and instead of being silent, I stand up to the people who hurt me.... but never end up feeling any better about it, and in fact, wind up feeling even less powerful. I talk about it to people.... but no relief comes from talking about it.

Like you I have trouble making sense of the traumatic memory or finding resolution. Lately I've come to understand that I store "trauma" memories in a part of my brain that is cut off from the rest of myself. This is my inner child, who is confused and doesn't understand how adults who seemed good could end up hurting her so much. I think looping is her way of trying to regain her power or trying to make sense of the situation. I always thought I had to "think" my way out of it.... but now I realize that learning to listen to my inner child and accepting her may be key to getting the looping to stop. She may start to share the bad memory with me instead of keeping it to herself, and then the adult part of my brain can process it. The adult part of myself is more than ready to move on, and is going bonkers with looping.

Thanks so much for this thread. It's very powerful to me to know I am not alone in this.

[adel34]

I don't know, perhaps a psychologist would call it "atypical anxiety?" Try researching that?
But seriously, I kind of think overthinking things, one's mind never stopping, can be a part of anxiety for some people. Everyone's different! I guess the important thing is that you talk about it in t.

[MAL10]

Thank you this thread has been so helpful.

[bamapsych]

OCD is the first thing that popped into my mind. From what you describe, you have an obsessive compulsive thought pattern. Only a T would be ale to diagnose this after evaluation. Some therapy would probably help.