I’d like to say it started recently, but the reality is that overthinking is something I’ve been dealing with for most of my life. I can remember, as a child, spending hours trying to decide what to wear to a friend’s birthday party, going over all the various reactions people might have to each ensemble in my head. If that sounds worrying, well, that’s because it is – at least to anyone who hasn’t experienced it themselves. To me, it’s simply normal.

And I’m not the only one. A study from the University of Michigan found that 73% of adults between the ages of 25 and 35 overthink. Whether it’s thinking someone is angry at you because of one small comment, wondering why someone you’re dating has read your message and not replied, or agonising over an offhand remark from your GP and inventing all sorts of maladies, the list of things you can overthink is endless. I’m guilty of all of them.

The study also found that women are significantly more likely than men to fall into overthinking and to feel immobilised by it (57% compared to 43%). The reasons for this could be neurological – one report in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease found that women’s brains are significantly more active than men in areas associated with focus and anxiety – but it could also be societal.

Some personality types might be more predisposed to overthinking, with one study finding that neuroticism and anxiety traits (both associated with overthinking) are more likely to affect introverted people as opposed to those who are extroverted. Meanwhile, psychologists have suggested that overthinking can be a trauma response to something that happened in your childhood, whether that’s abuse, neglect or dealing with addiction in the family home.

“I knew my overthinking was a problem, but I didn’t realise it was sabotaging my relationships”