Hyperanalyzing and overthinking a symptom of ptsd?

[Deleted member 44394]

I've had this for as long as I can remember, after a trauma, there was another thread started about this...but it was locked down. I had always thought I was just like this, I thought I didn't know what to do about it; thought I just thought a lot, told myself that I was hyper - intelligent. I'm just hyper vigilant. I've wasted a lot of time with this...and didn't know what to do about it ever. Was just putting this together that this may and probably is a trauma symptom.

It's like looking through at the world with broken sets of glasses. Nothings seems right, and you think it's the world....never your glasses. This really sucks, and it's disheartening, I have such an uphill battle to climb. Will I ever be normal again?
My dad used to make fun of me for this, nobody understood it. Even though it makes sense after it happened after a traumatic experience. I noticed I also hang onto things longer than others and think deeper; it's almost always a negative, deep sticky type feeling/thinking. It's like pure poison. But I realized that I am doing this to protect myself.
I want to be productive, fast, efficient and happy...in a word not damaged anymore. Is there any hope? I know a lot of us can relate to this topic.

Thanks,

blue

 

[Deleted member 541]

I used to analyze and then I would analyze what I just analyzed. I used to drive myself into anxiety in a split second and stay there. I would talk and talk and talk about things and analyze till I do drove others crazy too.

How I broke the pattern.... Therapy and tearing apart my trauma. Once on got a grip on my trauma I stopped analyzing....

 

[Deleted member 44394]

^ This.

I think tackling the core of your trauma is everything, it will hack at the root that is your poison tree. And take it out... deconstructing bit by bit. Until you're healthy, again. I'm finding this out too. I think trauma sensitizes us to our thoughts - can get us to act on those thoughts, with erratic disastrous consequences. We need skills that are and include tending to ourselves. Unfortunately, many of us have not got these skills and many of us have been told the opposite things; man up, don't show it, don't feel..... etc. as strategies for dealing with stuff. It just doesn't work. It works short term, but isn't a viable or human option for us all. It's not very compassionate or human.

We need to learn human interaction. We need to practice it and to learn how to manage our thoughts and deal with them as you'd deal with a burn...tenderly. Not be so rough with ourselves. I think many men deal with this, and it's harder for men to heal in this way. I came from the toughest damn environment there was, and I am not the most sensitive person because of it. It's ironic and funny how life is, and works. It made me that way....Came from military family background, Roman Catholic....etc etc old East and West European culture.

Now*

 

[EveHarrington]

Meds calmed my mind down. It was pointless to try and correct it with therapy as it was beyond the reach of therapy.

 

[Justmehere]

Overthinking things can be a defense mechanism against pain. It may also be like cognitive hypervigilance.

 

[Freida]

I overanalyze to avoid feeling emotions. Still working on Not doing it but slowly getting better as time goes on and my pain tolerance window grows

 

[Fadeaway]

I am the queen of over analyzing. 50% of the time it sucks but 50% of the time it is very useful. I would rather over analyze things to death than to be incapable of of and deep or meaningful thought like my narcissist grandmother.

 

[Mee]

I am an ‘overthinker’. I am wondering if it might be a CAUSE of my PTSD. After all; it’s a thought patttern not unlike disassociation and flashbacks. It seems to me a small step.

So it seems to me logical it could cause over analysis and ‘over thinking’.

 

[KerriJ]

They (my health professionals) call it "using my intellect as a defense"
I was classified as a "Gifted child" and my intelligence seemed to be my only worth. So combine that with trauma, I just learned to over analyze everything.
Instead of feeling anything, I just intellectualize it to an extreme. Almost like Sheldon from big bang theory i guess.
I agree that working your core of trauma is probably the best way to help but idk how to get started on that since all I do is intellectualize and over analyze. I am learning that it's exhausting to live this way.

I've been on meds for my ADHD for like 3 months and found it did lessen this a bit because now I didn't have as many "tabs" in my head going as fast. Idk where to go from here though so I understand.

 

[Mee]

They (my health professionals) call it "using my intellect as a defense"
I was classified as a "Gifted c...

Interesting. I was also a moderately advanced student though not genius. My therapist is further ’frustrated’ that I feel compassion for all in the situations; see easily that all are victims of their environments and thought processes and believe themselves victims.

This might not help ’me’ Process my trauma because i cannot get angry externally on my own myself.

 

[KerriJ]

Interesting. I was also a moderately advanced student though not genius. My therapist is further ’fru...

I relate so strongly to this!

I also tend to "understand" people's reasons, their trauma and why they did what they did - I feel sympathy for my abusers.

I expressed anger only at myself as a kid because I was afraid of being violent like my parents. This has created a block to being angry at anyone externally..

 

[Mee]

I also tend to "understand" people's reasons, their trauma and why they did what they did - I feel sympa...

Very similar. I did gave some anger issues through teens but worked on them.myself and was quite pleased I had processed them so well.

I now believe that the modern understanding that anger is ’dark’ and unwholesome is rather troubling. Anger is rather useful when well originated and clearly expressed