{"id":3117,"date":"2023-06-19T10:15:59","date_gmt":"2023-06-19T10:15:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lea.adriabox.com\/2023\/06\/19\/adhd-and-overthinking\/"},"modified":"2025-01-09T22:10:42","modified_gmt":"2025-01-09T22:10:42","slug":"adhd-and-overthinking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/leaivanciczic.com\/en\/2023\/06\/19\/adhd-and-overthinking\/","title":{"rendered":"ADHD and overthinking"},"content":{"rendered":"

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In addition to being a result of internal hyperactivity and prolonged time for verbal processing and processing information from the environment, overthinking is also a common occurrence in the ADHD population \u2014 cognitive distortions<\/strong>, i.e., errors in thinking.<\/p>\n

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What is it about?<\/p>\n

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Imagine it’s like wearing black-and-white lenses on your glasses.<\/p>\n

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Everything is tinted, and you think that the grass, the sky, the sea, and even yourself in the mirror are in shades of gray.<\/p>\n

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Until you become aware that you\u2019ve actually been wearing glasses the whole time, you will believe that what you see is what it is and overthink.<\/p>\n

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I will introduce you to 12 types of cognitive distortions:<\/strong><\/h5>\n

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Black-and-white thinking<\/strong><\/h6>\n

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You see only two opposing outcomes of a situation.<\/p>\n

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For example, “If I didn’t complete everything on the list, then I’m incompetent.” <\/p>\n

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Catastrophizing<\/strong><\/h6>\n

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Catastrophizing is predicting the future with a negative outcome without considering more realistic possible results.<\/p>\n

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They will ask me all the questions I don’t know, and I will fail the exam. <\/em><\/p>\n

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Discounting the positive<\/strong><\/h6>\n

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Talking about oneself and\/or others by dismissing positive qualities, behaviors, or experiences as if they don’t count and are just a result of chance or luck.<\/p>\n

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For example: “I got the job, but that doesn’t mean I’m the best candidate, I just got lucky. <\/em>“<\/p>\n

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Emotional reasoning<\/strong><\/h6>\n

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We make conclusions about something because it “feels” that way, despite evidence showing the opposite.<\/p>\n

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For example, “I gave so much in that relationship, but I still feel guilty that I didn\u2019t give enough.” <\/em><\/p>\n

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Labeling<\/strong><\/h6>\n

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A type of generalization where a single characteristic of a person is applied to their entire personality, disregarding evidence to the contrary.<\/p>\n

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For example: “I am incapable. He is bad. This is stupid.” <\/p>\n

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Exaggeration \/ underestimation<\/strong><\/h6>\n

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Exaggerating negative and downplaying positive traits, abilities, and behaviors. In toxic relationships, this can be reversed in an effort to maintain the relationship. <\/p>\n

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For example: “The fact that I got a promotion isn’t proof of my ability. Getting fired is proof that I’m a total failure.” <\/em><\/p>\n

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Tunnel vision<\/strong><\/h6>\n

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Viewing everything through a negative filter instead of seeing the whole situation, making it appear worse than it actually is.<\/p>\n

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For example: “I completed 10 things on the list, but not all 20, so I can’t be satisfied.” <\/em><\/p>\n

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Mind reading<\/strong><\/h6>\n

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The belief that others have a negative opinion of us without verifying it.<\/p>\n

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For example: “He probably thinks I’m weird.” <\/em><\/p>\n

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Excessive generalization<\/strong><\/h6>\n

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A general conclusion about oneself and\/or others\/situation is drawn based on a single comment\/example.<\/p>\n

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For example: “If one guy cheated on me, all of them will cheat! They’re all the same!” <\/p>\n

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Personalisation<\/strong><\/h6>\n

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Simply put, when we take all negative behaviors of others personally without considering other more likely explanations.<\/p>\n

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For example: “He’s yawning the whole time we’re talking, I must be boring him” (the person hasn’t slept all night). <\/em><\/p>\n

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“Should” and “must”<\/strong><\/h6>\n

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The idea of how we should or must behave, and overestimating the negative consequences if we don’t follow it.<\/p>\n

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For example: “I should always give my best, otherwise I’ll get bad grades.” (an excellent student)<\/em><\/p>\n

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Ad hoc reasoning<\/strong><\/h6>\n

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Quickly drawing a conclusion without gathering enough evidence to confirm or dismiss it.<\/p>\n

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For example: “My chest feels tight, it must be a heart attack! (panic attack)” <\/p>\n

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Here are some tips on how to tackle overthinking:<\/strong><\/h4>\n

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1. Find a balance between the two extremes<\/strong> (ugly \u2013 average \u2013 attractive \u2013 beautiful).<\/p>\n

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2. Redefine the extremes<\/strong> (instead of “incompetent \u2013 competent,” try something like “beginner \u2013 advanced”).<\/p>\n

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3<\/strong>. Acknowledge your successes and positive traits<\/strong><\/p>\n

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4. Accept a compliment<\/strong> with a simple “Thank you”<\/p>\n

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5. When the worst-case scenario comes to mind, immediately come up with the BEST possible scenario<\/strong><\/p>\n

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6. Remove “should” and “must” from your vocabulary and replace them with “choose” and “want”<\/strong><\/p>\n

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7. Just because you “feel” something is true, doesn’t mean it is \u2013 test reality with evidence and reasoning<\/strong><\/p>\n

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8. Before making a negative conclusion about yourself and\/or others, check its truthfulness<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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9. Keep in mind that if someone hurt you, the hurt is related only to your relationship with THAT person, not with others who may be similar. Similarity isn’t equality.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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10. Practice supportive self-talk<\/strong> by writing positive statements about yourself.<\/p>\n

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11. Don’t read minds, ask<\/strong>. He who asks, doesn’t wander. <\/p>\n

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\n<\/p>\nAko te zanima vi\u0161e konkretnih savjeta kako stati na kraj pretjeranom razmi\u0161ljanju i iza\u0107i iz za\u010daranog kruga zabrinutosti, dostupna je snimka webinara “STOP overthinking-u!”.\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

What can you expect?<\/strong>
\n\"\u2728\"reasons why you might fall into overthinking
\"\u2728\"discover your overthinking style
\"\u2728\"the difference between big and small worries
\"\u2728\"what is a useless miracle?
\"\u2728\"simple techniques to stop catastrophic thinking <\/p>\n

Let this be the first step in giving up the habit of worrying, which leads you nowhere.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Request the recording here.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In addition to being a result of internal hyperactivity and prolonged time for verbal processing and processing information from the environment, overthinking is also a common occurrence in the ADHD population \u2014 cognitive distortions, i.e., errors in thinking. What is it about? Imagine it’s like wearing black-and-white lenses on your glasses. Everything is tinted, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2419,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[67,99,80,68],"class_list":["post-3117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-adhd-in-adults","tag-adhd-en","tag-adhd-and-overthinking","tag-adhd-in-adults-en","tag-adhd-in-adults"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/leaivanciczic.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3117","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/leaivanciczic.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/leaivanciczic.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leaivanciczic.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leaivanciczic.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3117"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/leaivanciczic.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3117\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3156,"href":"https:\/\/leaivanciczic.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3117\/revisions\/3156"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leaivanciczic.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2419"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/leaivanciczic.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leaivanciczic.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leaivanciczic.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}