How do you know which thoughts are true?

[Kitten2016]

Hey,

I get worried all the time, and overthink everything. As you guys (probably) do too, I was hoping you could help...

I'm constantly starting to ask how I know if what I'm thinking is really that bad. How bad is what I just did really. Would other people be worried about this mistake? On a scale of 1-10, how bad is this situation objectively?

It's driving me crazy that I never know just how much I'm overeating!

Do you guys have any tips?

[PunkyFish]

Hey,

I get worried all the time, and overthink everything. As you guys (probably) do too, I was hoping you could help...

I'm constantly starting to ask how I know if what I'm thinking is really that bad. How bad is what I just did really. Would other people be worried about this mistake? On a scale of 1-10, how bad is this situation objectively?

It's driving me crazy that I never know just how much I'm overeating!

Do you guys have any tips?

I'm terrible for overthinking things. There are times when I overthink about really stupid things that are not worth overthinking about. Overthinking on times has made me ruin my life and it's not a way to live at all. There are ways to combat overthinking and worrying with therapy but this is something that you need to see a doctor about. If you make a mistake try and leave the mistake in the past. You can't change a mistake so try and concentrate on the present. When you are overthinking about something try and do something to distract yourself like reading a book, listening to music, go for a walk and so forth.

[Hopeyet]

It's incredibly difficult, isn't it?

The only advice I can offer is try and separate the triggers from the chain of thoughts that follow. Once you recognise them as triggers rather than an intrinsic part of the worries that follow you can break the chain.

My main issue always used to be health anxiety. I can't even say I do it exactly, but my therapist encouraged me to really analyse the physical sensations that would lead to me thinking I had cancer or heart disease or whatever it was during that particular episode. That sounds like the worst possible thing to do, but eventually it clicked and I started seeing them as twinges not necessarily symptoms of a bigger problem. Hey presto, they (more or less) disappeared!

I think the moral is that you'll never be able to avoid all potentially negative situations. A degree of apprehension is natural and you're not trying to stop all worries, just prevent them from becoming disproportionate or destructive.

If your anxiety persists have a chat with your GP about therapy. Clearly it's a personal point of view, but I'd strongly advise against medication - I don't know anyone who's found it to be a definitive cure. Changing your thought processes or even your lifestyle theoretically could be.

[skymaid]

I don't think medication is intended (in most cases) as a permanent solution but more to be used to give your poor tired mind a break from the worry and symptoms of stress.

hopefully you can then use this break to learn to cope with the stressors or eliminate them if possible.

this obviously only applies to stress induced illness rather than genetic or trauma induced