Handpicked Memes For You, Fellow Overthinker
Memes are evolving. These days, a well-placed gif doesn't just represent a cheap laugh or an easy Facebook like. For many people, memes capture the feelings and frustrations we feel inside that we just can’t quite express in words. The following memes have been created by or for all the overthinkers among us to capture all our many, many thoughts in .gif form.
1. The Overheated Brain
Have you ever felt the pain of the overheated brain? These gifs reveal what it can feel like to be an overthinker. When your brain gets overloaded with thoughts, it can be feel overwhelming. If you've struggled with overthinking for a long time, or have physical symptoms connected with your overheated brain, it might be a sign of General Anxiety Disorder. Learn more about GAD here.
2. The Outside Doesn't Match the Inside
You've probably seen this meme before. Who is this legendary little boy who feels he's drowning in one foot of water? The meme is recirculated regularly on social media who reappears periodically because it taps into a deep truth: overthinking makes us crazy about things that aren't actually scary.
I have an overthinking metaphor that I return to when I need to remember the power of perception. I visualize my brain's environment, knowing that I am the one person responsible for keeping that environment safe and calm.
3. Panic Before Planning
This gif embodies a common problem for overthinkers: We panic before we even taking the time to assess the severity of the problem. Feeling as though we're in trouble really isn't the same as being in trouble.
For a good strategy that will help you plan before panicking, take a look at this post about personal prioritization.
4. What Really is the Problem?
These math memes all allude to a shared overthinker's problem: Thinking too hard about a problem makes us lose focus of what we were trying to solve to begin with. Find some examples of this, as well as how to avoid the problem, here.
5. Sleep is Something You Can't Afford to Lose
Many of us can identify with the painful problem of not getting the deep sleep our brains need to heal themselves. Some of us lose sleep while mulling tiny details from our days over and over. We may be thinking about one problem, but the truth is that losing sleep is an even bigger problem for your brain. Learn more about what I mean here.
6. Brain Overload
A meme showing how bad it would look if the outside matched the feeling on the inside. Overthinking leads to stress which leads to health issues like chronic migraines. For some tips to help with those nasty headaches, look here.
7. Tomorrow's Stress Today
For the overthinker, the main business of the day is stressing about what might happen tomorrow. Whether it is work, relationships, or life in general, stress just seems to pile up for us overthinkers. You can find some helpful advice for coping with all of that stress here.
8. Stressing Over Social Media
Tweets, posts, snaps, texts, emojis, vines, likes, dislikes, retweets, unfriends, memes! It is much too easy for an overthinker to get #StressedOut by social media. Take a minute to realize you aren't alone and enjoy an infographic.
9. Take that First Step
To an overthinker, risk is everywhere. This meme shows us that without taking that first risk we believe to be so dangerous, we won't overcome even the smallest problems. To learn more about how risky it is to avoid risk, give this article a read.
10. I Can Read Your Mind
For us overthinkers, everything has a hidden meaning. But, most of the time the only negative thoughts out there are our own. Mind reading is a common cause of anxiety and you can learn about it and the other automatic negative thoughts here.
11. Fear Itself
Overthinkers fear the unknown. To us, the unknown is a terrifying place where only the worst is possible and being confident is impossible. But is faking confidence a better alternative? Find out in this advice column.
12. Cage without a Door
Here is a meme for overthinkers who can't even see the easier path. The truth is simple, though: our anxiety is just making everything harder on ourselves. We have to bust the myth that anxiety is good for us and this is a good start.
13. Alone with all of these Thoughts
That brings us to our final meme. Overthinkers think we are all alone and nobody has the problems we do. But it isn't true at all! See the proof here.