B. Stop Overthinking

Stop Overthinking

Metadata

Highlights

Thought is not an enemy. Our brain is an extraordinarily helpful tool, but when we overthink, we only undermine its power. — location: 115

the causes of overthinking are seldom the focus of overthinking. — location: 125

Marcus E. Raichle is a neuroscientist who coined the term “default mode network,” which can be thought of as everything the brain does when it does nothing in particular. When no task dominates, the brain ends up mulling over its place in the world and processes and reprocesses social information and memories in the interests of increasing survival. In this way, the brain could be said to have evolved to survive, not to be happy. — location: 145

the brain is ultimately spending as much time stewing over what is not happening as it is over what is happening. What’s more, doing so generally leads to unhappiness. — location: 153

this is still just a question of probability. There are no “anxiety genes” that destine you to a fixed fate you can never escape. — location: 177

Is overthinking genetic? Yes. But it’s not only genetic. Life still weighs in on that seventy-four percent, which means that environment may play a bigger role. — location: 184

Many of us have become habitual overthinkers because it gives us the illusion that we’re doing something about the problem we’re overthinking about. — location: 188

Lastly, our daily habits can feed our anxieties and result in overthinking in subtle but significant ways. — location: 199

genetic predisposition + stressful precipitating events = overthinking. — location: 206

“Eustress” — location: 209

hypostress, — location: 212

to flourish, we don’t need a stress-free environment, we need one that’s optimally suited to our needs. — location: 213