Overthinking and Rumination

Overthinking is when your thoughts just won’t switch off — long past the point where they’re actually helping you. It might feel like your brain is an engine that’s stuck revving, constantly running but not getting you anywhere.

Rumination is when your mind gets caught in the same loop, replaying the same thought or worry over and over. It often latches onto something from the past — a mistake you made, an awkward conversation, or a situation that went wrong — and just keeps cycling through it.

If this sounds familiar, you know how it can feel:

• Completely exhausting
• Emotionally draining
• Impossible to stop, even when you desperately want to
• Like being mentally trapped or stuck

If you’re neurodivergent — especially if you have ADHD, autism, or anxiety — you might experience overthinking and rumination more intensely or more often. Your brain’s incredible ability to focus deeply, spot patterns, or analyse situations can sometimes get stuck in worry or self-blame mode.

You might recognize some of these patterns:

• Replaying conversations over and over, analysing every word
• Running through every possible outcome before you can make any decision
• Obsessing over how something you said or did might have been received
• Feeling like you can’t relax until you’ve figured out every single detail

These thinking patterns aren’t a character flaw or something wrong with you — but they can definitely become overwhelming. Simply recognizing these patterns when they happen is the first step toward finding ways to ease that mental load.