Overthinking gets called many things. Rumination. Catastrophizing. Reassurance-seeking. Mental rehearsal. Worry. They're not the same, but they share a structure: the mind treats certainty itself as the goal, and there is no amount of thinking that gets you there. So the thinking keeps running.
Short: The Overthinking Map. AnxietyResource, medically reviewed by Shariq Refai, MD, MBA. https://anxietyresource.org/maps/overthinking/
APA: AnxietyResource. (2026, June 22). The Overthinking Map. Medically reviewed by Shariq Refai, MD, MBA. https://anxietyresource.org/maps/overthinking/
MLA: "The Overthinking Map." AnxietyResource, medically reviewed by Shariq Refai, MD, MBA, 22 Jun 2026, anxietyresource.org/maps/overthinking/.