I don't know if I've posted this in the right forum, but here goes..... it seems the further I get into peri the more I think...or rather, analyze everything and everybody. I overthink. I can take a minor situation and blow it out of proportion just by dwelling on it., whether I have all the facts or not.Does anyone else do this...and how do you stop "overthinking" and taking people at their word?

Yes, I do that a lot! And it drives everyone around me crazy too. In my case, I've always been the "fixer of problems" in the family, so maybe that has something to do with it. Only it's SO much worse in the last few years!

Did I write this? crazy! I woke up this morning thinking the EXACT same thing!

AND YES, I think WAY too much and overanalyze everything. As far as taking people at their word, well I have a flawless BS meter and only will not take people at their word when I am know they are liars.

I tried so hard to turn my thinking off. I was doing budokon yoga the other day and the instructor (from the DVD) kept saying "find your breathe and clear your mind of all thoughts. Imagine a snowglobe with all the snow swirling around and then it stops, calm, peace, no movement"
So far that's been helping me not think too much.

I'm actually in the midst of a major life crisis now so my mind races day and night

Oh good...so I'm not alone! I also drive some of the people around me nuts with thinking too much. This is not me at all!. I use to take people at their word and not try to find the "hidden meaning" behind everything. But NOW, oh my goodness, I try to analyze and question what people mean by what they say...if they give me a certain "look" I ask what they mean by that then I try to figure out if I've done something to offend them. etc. I sometimes will ask for reassurance that I haven't offended etc. It's crazy. I I jump to the wrong conclusion about things many times only to find out later on that I was totally wrong about that person/situation. I've tried practicing thought stopping and it has worked to a point. I also have been trying not to take things so personally and accept the fact that others have bad days or are busy too and their moods have nothing to do with me. Good grief! Peri has done this too? I feel robbed in this area now as well. Thanks, ladies, for answering and making me feel so not all alone.

OMIGOD yes and I was an overthinker before this! I can overthink the word "the." Prozac, for me, has historically kept my thoughts from going overboard, but I still get those thoughts right to the edge.

I didn't use to but boy I do now. I can't even sleep for thinking so much!!

Ha! I'm the same way, too! Always the fixer but I tend to do a lot of 'what if' and it drives me nuts! For instance, I'm moving back to Texas in a couple weeks and I'm constantly thinking 'what if this happens or that happens before I can leave?' or 'what if this or that happens while driving there?'

I overthink which leads to worry and fretting and I just drive myself (and others) insane with it!

All:

I think there is a particular "ruminative" aspect to meno anxiety - its OCD like in its intensity - i have suffered with this for sometime now and have tried many cognitive tools but it is a hard problem to wrestle.

Keep truckin out there ladies - its bound to get better sometime.

in sisterhood,

pooks

Are we related?....... We're also moving back to Texas in two weeks! And I'm doing the same thing! All those what if's........
We're from east Texas but are moving to the Austin area. We have kids there.

I can relate to this thread on about everything everyone has posted!

I'm going to west Texas, you're going way south!! Lovely hot, steamy south Texas--oh my!!!!!

we are all nuts :-)

I'm also a worry-wart and try to find meaning in what others say. I stopped taking things personally though. I figured out (and it took some time to get here) that nothing is personal.

But oddly enough, when I jump to conclusions, I am mostly accurate. But I do jump the gun too soon at times.

Thinking too much is sooooooooooooo tiring!

Hence why wine was invented :-)

The only thing I've been overthinking so far is "what in the world is happening to me and how do I get it fixed NOW?" The whole rest of my brain appears to have shut down. Beyond the depression and anxiety and getting through the day, there's nothing else.