Struggling with overthinking? Neuroscientist shares tips to beat 'indecision overwhelm'

Daftar Isi

everything?

Us too.

But when exactly does thinking normally boundaries stretch into overthinking, which can drain our mental energy and leave us feeling swamped, and what is the distinction?

“Thinking is basically getting your head around how to tackle a problem or make a choice,” says Dr Faye Begeti, a neuroology registrar with the NHS and a bloke who’s well known on the interwebs as 'The Brain Doctor'. “Where overthinking comes in is when you’re putting in heaps of thinking effort but the outcome probably isn't worth it. It really all depends on the individual and what's on the line.”

“Fair dinkum, if I was to give you an example,” she says. “If you were to move house, you'd have to put in a lot of brainpower trying to decide where you want to live. Maybe you'd have to move your family, you'd have to change jobs - it's a ripper of a decision, right? But if I was in my day job as a doctor, if I was to agonise over what pen I'm going to scribble the prescription with, then that would definitely be overthinking, mate.”

“When you consider how something affects us, it can be massive in impact or next to none, with all sorts of variations in between, if you know what I mean. What's really worth taking note of is how our minds sort of decide where to focus our thinking, and sometimes we get carried away with all the options we've got to choose from, don't we?”

– finding that 84 per cent of people are stuck in "indecision overwhelm" when choosing the perfect holiday destination, with just as many (85 per cent) saying overthinking the planning stage ends up putting a delay on making a decision.

G'day, we've all been there, too," says Dr Begeti. "I reckon when people are feeling totally drained, sometimes it's hard to make even the easiest decisions, like choosing what to have for dinner. Most of us've had those moments, and I think it's about taking a step back to tune into yourself and acknowledge you might have ruled out an option and need to go back to it. It's like you're going round in a circle, overthinking and getting nowhere – making no progress at all.

Dr Begeti's advice for handling this emotion draws on a well-known saying, which coincidentally has a scientific basis in neuroscience.

“Fair dinkum, what I reckon is making sure you get a good night's kip,” she explains. “Sleep gives the old brain a chance to recharge, specifically the prefrontal cortex, the bit that wears out, so that's a ripper, as well as having a mental break. That's why we say with a decision, sometimes we say, 'we'll sleep on it', right? This is why, there's some solid science behind it, mate.”

Do you want to achieve something? Keep that top of mind, when your mind is firing on all cylinders. And when you finish with a goal, it's time to learn to let go of it.

– which involved studying data from more than 40,000 US, UK and Canadian university students between 1989 to 2017 – discovered an increase in perfectionism among young people, with the extent to which they "attach an irrational importance to being perfect", set unrealistic expectations for themselves and were "highly self-critical" growing by 10 per cent.

The secret to being satisfied, Dr Begeti says, is to draw on one's own motivating factors.

“She reckons it's worth remembering that there's always a balance between overthinking, the time it takes, and the outcome of each decision," she says. "So, this is something people can work on if they're stuck in a cycle of ruminating. What's happening is the thinking part of the brain is at the end of its rope, exhausted, and having trouble letting things go, filtering out unnecessary thoughts, finalising stuff, or managing the emotions that come with it."

“G'day, it's essential to have a fair bit of self-compassion,” said Dr Begeti, “because this is a tough go and we're all as different as chalk and cheese. But it's something to work on in terms of, for example, if you're getting stuck in a loop of worries and you're thinking about things that you've decided are a waste of time or not as important as a big decision, you can say to yourself, ‘give my brain a break now for the next hour, I'll schedule some time where I can worry about this.’”

“Actually, the brain tends to wind down. So when we're actively looking to get that mental satisfaction, we're always after it, but it doesn't really materialise, says Dr Begeti. I believe we need to get into the habit of 'I've made a decision based on the information available, and any mistakes or potential negative consequences are beyond my forecast. So if something negative does come up, that wouldn't be my fault', and then you can gradually start to let things go and develop a mental training pattern that you can apply to those situations.”

In this instance, the entertainer's take on Stoicism comes down to the phrase "the wisdom of not trying to control what's beyond your grasp."

Dr Begeti also stresses the significance of taking a break from mental exertion, which is distinct from physical rest.

"I like to get people through an exercise where I ask them, what would you do if you didn't have to be productive and didn't have to worry about time - that's a good starting point," she explains, "because most people think they're taking a break, but they're actually asking me, 'Dr Faye, how can I be productive in my break? How can I get some chores done? How can I finish this?'

“G'day, what would you do if you had a spell with no worries or tasks to stress about for a short while, whether it's lookin' after family or somethin' else? What would you do if you didn't have to be on the go 24/7? And it's all good if that'd be just chillin' on the couch watchin' TV, doesn't have to be, 'Fair dinkum, I'd start this ripper of a hobby straight away'.”

That's definitely something to ponder.

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