Newel of Knowledge - you're not an overthinker, you've just never been taught this...
Overthinking is not an innate trait but a learned habit that can be altered. The video discusses how overthinking is often dealt with through unhelpful strategies like seeking reassurance, excessive planning, and worrying about worrying. Instead, metacognitive therapy offers a more effective approach by not trying to change negative thoughts but letting them go. This method is supported by studies showing higher recovery rates from depression compared to cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Practical tools from metacognitive therapy include recognizing and letting trigger thoughts be, understanding what you can and can't control, setting a worry window, and training your attention. These techniques help in reducing overthinking by focusing on the present and diverting attention from negative thoughts.
Key Points:
- Overthinking is a learned habit, not an innate trait.
- Metacognitive therapy is more effective than CBT for overthinking.
- Recognize and let trigger thoughts be without acting on them.
- Set a specific time to worry, reducing overall worry time.
- Train attention to focus on the present and divert from negative thoughts.
Details:
1. 🤯 Understanding Overthinking
1.1. Effects of Overthinking
1.2. Addressing Overthinking
2. 🔍 Busting the Overthinking Myth
2.1. Unhelpful Habits in Overthinking
2.2. Therapeutic Approaches to Overthinking
3. 🧠 Exploring Therapeutic Approaches
- Metacognitive therapy (MCT) emphasizes the practice of letting go of negative thoughts instead of replacing them, which is the primary strategy in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT).
- CBT's approach may inadvertently heighten focus on negative thoughts, potentially worsening overthinking rather than alleviating it.
- MCT is considered 'lazy therapy' because it utilizes practical tools to disengage from negative thought patterns effectively.
- Adrien Wells, who founded MCT, argues that overthinking is a learned behavior rather than an inherent trait.
- A study with 174 depressed patients demonstrated that 74% of those treated with MCT recovered from depression, compared to 52% who underwent CBT.
4. 🚂 Identifying and Managing Trigger Thoughts
4.1. Identifying Trigger Thoughts
4.2. Managing Trigger Thoughts
5. 🛤️ Recognizing Control and Questioning Thoughts
- Recognize what you can and can't control regarding thoughts. You cannot control the existence of trigger thoughts, but you can control your reaction to them.
- Repetitive thought patterns become automatic over time, making them feel uncontrollable, but changing your response is possible.
- Practically, you can choose whether to act on a thought, accept it as fact, question it, or divert your attention elsewhere.
- Question trigger thoughts by asking if they are based on facts and if they align with how you want to think or feel.
- Use the analogy of a train station or a ringing phone to understand that while you can't control the initial thought, you can choose not to engage with it.
- Thoughts are transient; reflecting on how many thoughts you remember from yesterday can illustrate their impermanence.
6. ⏳ Postponing and Reducing Worries
- Set a daily time window specifically for focused worrying, such as between 6:00 and 7:00 PM, ensuring it is not within two hours of bedtime to promote relaxation.
- During this 'worry time,' write down triggers of overthinking without judgment, allowing for externalization of thoughts.
- Practice thought control by postponing worries, akin to ignoring distractions when necessary, helping in stress reduction.
- Recognize that revisiting thoughts during set worry times often reveals them to be less daunting or they may disappear altogether.
- Use the analogy of applying app restrictions on a phone to limit time spent on unproductive worry, enhancing focus on constructive activities.
7. 🚫 Avoidance and Attention Training
- Avoidance strategies, such as staying busy with distractions like music or habits, do not resolve overthinking and can exacerbate it.
- Proactively exposing oneself to trigger thoughts helps in building control and developing coping mechanisms, making one more resilient.
- Avoidance can deprive individuals of psychological tools needed to handle inevitable trigger thoughts effectively.
- Building resilience to trigger thoughts is similar to learning a new skill, requiring exposure, practice, and acceptance of occasional setbacks.
- Identifying central trigger thoughts, such as feelings of not fitting in after moving abroad, is crucial. Instead of avoiding these, they should be directly addressed through exposure techniques.
- Practical attention training techniques, such as mindfulness and cognitive restructuring, can aid in managing trigger thoughts.
8. 🔄 Attention Shifting Exercise
- The exercise is effective for controlling attention and reducing overthinking when triggered by distressing thoughts.
- It involves focusing on different environmental sounds over a 1 minute and 30 seconds period, initially for 20 seconds per sound, then reducing to 5-second intervals to enhance quick attention shifts.
- Daily practice of 2 minutes is recommended, with 20-second focus shifts to improve skill.
- An advanced variant includes playing a recorded distressing thought while practicing the exercise, to build resilience against such thoughts.
9. 🔍 Window Pane Exercise
- The Window Pane Exercise involves using an erasable pen or fogging a window to write out a 'trigger thought' such as 'What if she doesn't like me?' or 'What if I fail my driving test?'.
- Begin by reading the thought as it appears on the window, then shift your focus to look at the view beyond the window.
- Alternate your focus between the thought and the view outside to practice redirecting attention despite intrusive thoughts.
- This exercise is designed to demonstrate your ability to manage intrusive thoughts and refocus your attention.
- Example variations include writing different types of intrusive thoughts or practicing in different environments to enhance adaptability.