Hm-m-m-m. . . Inside my own skin, over-thinking feels closer to psychosis than specialty, but maybe I'm just splitting grammatical hairs. By whatever name, over-thinking is a pain in my cranium, both literally and figuratively. I've thought my way into both migraines and jail. Neither are fun.

In addition to journaling and falling asleep to tv shows, foreign language studies are one of the tools I use to arrest my thought loops. Translating my thought loops into a new language doesn't always stop the over-thinking, but at least it turns the redundancy into beneficial practice. Is it a good thing that I can now obsess in 3 languages with a 4th filling up fast?

ele é um idiota
ela é uma idiota
eles são idiotas
Eu sou um idiota
somos todos idiotas
idiotas estão por toda parte

Practice practice practice. . .

So far I've found the best thing to quiet my mind, or at least not get so carried away with thoughts, is guided meditation. There are all kinds of great apps (I use Calm) and free YouTube videos available that can teach you. It does take a bit of practice, so it's not the quickest fix, but I've noticed that meditating daily has made me MUCH more aware of unnecessary thoughts. I can take a step back and label them as a worry, a memory, a fear, etc and that keeps me from getting sucked into the spiral. I would suggest practicing meditation regularly during the day so that you know how to do it at night when you can't turn off your brain.

Hello!
I obviously can’t say anything I suggest will work, but when I notice that my mind is wandering too much before bed, I play very specific and calming scenario in my head. It’s like reading a book but you can lay with your eyes closed and just drift into sleep. May you have sweet dreams!

Try grounding techniques. Try thinking of a list like naming dog breeds from A-Z, describe everything you see around you including color, textures, objects, shapes, recite the alphabet backwards, make up a funny story in your mind, anything that you can do to break the pattern of overthinking. If you really can’t stop, shock yourself by taking a cold shower, hold some ice in your hands. I hope you can find relief.

Distract the thought by thinking about what thought means to you.

When other distractions do not work, in the moment, then use the word itself to distract the usual pattern.

Best wishes as you find your better balance.

I have had the same problem. I go to bed earlier and also relax my mind and make sure i go bed after working out. If we work on relaxing the body, it will have a massive effect on the mind. The brain will not be able to resist the bodies requests.

thanks guys these are super helpful tips!

Body scan meditation helps me (google “body scan meditation” and you see instructions).

I have say exercise helps. Like a good walk right before or after dinner sort of preps me for sleep. Doesn’t work all the time but it helps to be really tired before my head hits the pillow.

I've been doing word searches--easy puzzles that take enough concentration that my mind can't go wandering into bad territory....its kind of like a meditation for me right now.

It's usually bad for me at night as well, usually takes me a long time to fall asleep. The square breathing technique is helpful. It forces your body to calm down and then you're also counting in your head so it calms your mind too. Besides that, I watch TV / leave the TV on all night. Something about the low volume and low light plays on my other senses so my mind doesn't have to. Cbd oil 'sometimes' helps.

When I have racing thoughts at night I take a Vistaril and that helps so much!! Journaling to get everything out also has been a help.

I find reading helps. Focusing on the text helps block out the whizzing worries.

The only down side is that I usually fall asleep while reading and awaken with a sore neck and discover that I've drooled on the page.

I listen to relaxing music on You Tube and it quiets my mind and thoughts. And I end up falling to sleep.

It helps me to know this is often our mind/bodies only time we “allow” it to process. I’ve noticed this with my teenage son, who doesn’t have diagnosed anxiety, in that after he’s gone to bed for a bit he inevitably “remembers” something he needs to tell me. Not to be considered as just as childhood bedtime prevention plan because these thoughts are often important and meaningful. Some research backed up my theory that as we allow our bodies to relax at bedtime so too our brain begins to, and that can often mean finally being able to address issues we “put off” throughout the day in our routine business.