Thoughts About Overthinking

Blog posts and discussions about Sensory Processing Sensitivity (SPS) frequently refer to “overthinking” as an inevitable characteristic of being an HSP (Highly Sensitive Person). This always raises my hackles. What’s “over” about our thinking, compared to anyone else’s? And why are we comparing ourselves to anyone else anyway? Unfavorably at that? Haven’t we all heard “oversensitive” enough times not to apply any more “over-” appellations to ourselves??

And if the embedded judgment wasn’t bad enough, the term is also imprecise. I have detected at least three different meanings associated with the word. In this post, I discuss these definitions of “overthinking,” and propose alternatives for two of them.

1). Overthinking for Everyone

The first definition of overthinking is the one used by HSPs and non-HSPs alike.

To spend a lot of time and energy devising a complex solution or explanation when a simpler one is, well, simpler.

This definition carries no implications about why someone might be doing that, though depictions thereof in art and song often attribute this kind of overthinking to nervous anticipation of a significant event, or to an active but impractical personality. And the overthinkers in this context are almost always male, for some reason, but that’s another post.

2). Deep Thinking – Overthinking by HSPs

In HSP forums, “overthinking” can be a self-critical, or at best, self-deprecating term used to describe intensive research and analysis. I believe we need to rethink this. Stop laughing. This is serious. Since 7 out of 10 HSPs are introverts, what we have here may be a case of internalized introvert-dissing.

Western societies tend to be biased towards extroverted personalities (even though there are at least as many introverts as extroverts – probably a few more). Your average non-HSP extrovert is friendly, animated, and enthusiastic, but not terribly analytical – in other words, an underthinker. So does it make sense to base the norm for the “right” amount of thinking on non-HSP extroverts? Is the world worse off if more people ruminate before deciding, research before sharing, think before tweeting?

A bodhi tree leaf — Buddha sat under a bodhi tree for 7 weeks, at the end of which he was over (as in “done with”) thinking. Or maybe he was over overthinking. And he was also over (as in “transcended, above”) thinking. When your thoughts are overstimulated and you need a break, it helps to know how to put them on hold. You might have to work at it a bit to get comfortable with meditation, but don’t be discouraged. Remember how long it took Buddha.

In reality, the “right” amount of thought is highly variable depending on the context. In workplace contexts, standards for reasonable research and planning time are too often based on minimizing the cost of wages rather than optimizing outcomes. This is penny wise, pound foolish, but what else is new in the business world.

Introverts and HSP extroverts carry home the perspective that “too much” deliberation is “wasteful,” and feel guilty or unproductive if they prefer to spend their leisure time reading up on topics that catch their curiosity to barhopping with friends.

The key here is that we enjoy this form of exploration, and the subsequent integration of new information into our mental database. And that’s OK. More than OK – it’s good. It constantly enriches us as human beings. Yes, even if the topic is random. You never know what might come in useful someday. This world needs all the fact-checking it can get.

So let’s call this “deep thinking” instead of “overthinking” and feel proud about it instead of ashamed.

3). Circular Thinking – Problematic Overthinking

But what if you’re a prisoner of your own thoughts? What if your research never leads to decisions, and your analysis never resolves confusion? What if you can and do think yourself into a downward spiral that makes you feel even worse?

Many HSPs assume this scenario is normal for HSPs, particularly if the thoughts are about emotionally distressing situations, past, present or future. They have read about emotional sensitivity, and think this is a part of it.

It isn’t.

Compulsive, distressing, repetitive, and otherwise problematic thoughts are not a personality characteristic. They are a symptom of a mental disorder. They are particularly common in people with clinical depression and anxiety, and in trauma survivors. You are not weak for having them – your brain chemistry is out of whack, turning your brain into a black cloud generator, and you can’t think your way out of that, because your brain chemistry is out of whack.

Confusing mental disorder symptoms with HSP characteristics is a huge problem in the HSP community. There are probably multiple reasons why this is so – imprecise terminology in describing internal HSP experience is one cause (that’s why I’m writing this post).

But the main reason is the lingering stigma around mental disorders that denies their existence and insists people with a disabling health condition just aren’t trying hard enough. Many HSPs have had their mental health maligned by people who are uncomfortable with their perceptiveness, candor, or emotional expressiveness. That can make it particularly fraught for HSPs to consider that there really is “something wrong with them.” But having a mental disorder doesn’t make your whole personality wrong, nor does it make every bad thing that anyone ever said about you true.

At the moment, HSPs are diagnosed more frequently with depression and anxiety than the general population. Many people (including, unfortunately, many HSPs, and even their therapists) incorrectly assume this is due to some inherent fragility or limitation associated with SPS. However, SPS enhances the impact of positive experiences as well as negative ones. It is a neutral trait, giving us the potential to get more out of ANY experience than non-HSPs.

I believe that, as we educate ourselves and the world about SPS, negative attitudes about personality characteristics that correspond with our trait will shift, which will benefit non-HSPs too. HSP kids will receive more appropriate parenting and education. HSP adults will receive more effective therapy. Decade by decade, I expect to see a drop in the rate of mental disorders among HSPs.

According to the World Population Clock, there are currently 7,819,149,695 humans on Earth. If 15-20% of them are HSPs, that means there are somewhere between 1,172,872,454 and 1,563,829,939 people with Sensory Processing Sensitivity. Yes, you read that right. Over a billion, and maybe as many as a billion and a half HSPs.

So if you are feeling different and alone, find yourself an online HSP support group, blog or video channel. And if the first one doesn’t click, try another until you find one that does. A billion and a half means there’s a wide range of values, histories, interests and perspectives among HSPs. It also means you will be able to find kindred spirits somewhere if you keep looking.

With our heightened empathy and perceptiveness, HSPs can be really good at providing emotional support and nurturing transformation. The first people we need to do that for is ourselves and each other. And then we will be a (gentle) force to be reckoned with!