Why Your Brain Traps You in Fear | #70

By Armaan Athwal

Today's Overview:

• Overthinking is our way of searching for control in uncertainty

• The brain prioritizes pain avoidance over truth

• Quote of the day

The Overthinking Loop

I’ve always been someone who notices the details. The subtle shifts in energy, the pauses in conversation that last just a second too long, the messages that sound slightly different than usual. But it’s not just people or conversations. I notice everything. The tasks piling up, the future I’m trying to shape, the little decisions that could snowball into something bigger. And because I notice them, I analyze them. A lot.

It’s not always a bad thing. Being aware of the small things helps me stay on top of what’s important. But it also means I spend an unhealthy amount of time trying to predict outcomes that probably won’t happen. I try to figure out how one choice now will affect everything later, whether it’s a decision I make today or a plan I set for tomorrow.

If I don’t get something done right away, I start wondering how that’ll throw off the rest of my day or even my week. If someone replies later than usual, I wonder if I said something wrong. I play out conversations in my head before they even happen, trying to predict the outcome. It’s exhausting.

The problem is, overthinking creates false meaning. The brain isn’t wired to sit with uncertainty, so when there’s a gap in information, it fills it in, usually with worst-case scenarios. It convinces you that a neutral situation is actually negative, that a small change is a sign of something bigger, that you’re losing control. And once your brain locks onto a possible threat, even if it’s completely irrational, it’s hard to shake it.

This happens because our brains prioritize pain avoidance over truth. The more we overanalyze, the more we trick ourselves into believing we’re protecting ourselves, when in reality, we’re just deepening the anxiety. We start believing that thinking hard enough will give us certainty. That if we predict responses, replay conversations, and consider every possibility, we’ll avoid making a mistake. But that’s not how it works. Overthinking doesn’t bring clarity, it creates confusion.

It gives us the the illusion of control. If you think about every possible outcome, it feels like you’re preparing. It feels like you’re gaining control. But overthinking doesn’t give you control, it gives you paralysis. The only way to truly gain control over a situation is to act within it.

It's a hard thing to stop, but we must recognize that certainty isn’t the goal, tolerance for uncertainty is. The people who feel more grounded in life aren’t the ones with all the answers. They’re the ones who can act even when they don’t have all the answers.

Your mind will always try to pull you into the loop, convincing you that you need just a little more time, a little more analysis. But certainty is a myth. And while you’re waiting for the perfect understanding, life moves forward. The question is, will you?

Quote of the Day

“A person who thinks all the time has nothing to think about except thoughts. So, he loses touch with reality and lives in a world of illusions.

By thoughts I mean, specifically, chatter in the skull—perpetual and compulsive repetition of words, of reckoning, and of calculating.

I’m not saying that thinking is bad; like everything else, it’s useful in moderation, a good servant but a bad master.

And all so-called civilised peoples have increasingly become crazy and self destructive because through excessive thinking they have lost touch with reality. That’s to say we confuse signs, words, numbers, symbols, and ideas with the real world.” - Alan Watts