Overthinking Could Be Making Your Symptoms Worse (And How to Get Out of the Loop)

Do you ever lie awake at night running through every “what if” scenario?

Overthinking is more than just a mental habit. For women, especially those navigating health challenges, it’s a symptom of disconnection from the body, and it can make everything worse.

The Science of Story Brain vs. Body Brain

Your brain has a built-in network designed to help you make sense of your life. But when you’re not in your body or not taking focused action, your mind defaults to what's called the Default Mode Network—what we call the “story brain.”

This is where you ruminate, worry, replay the past, and stress about the future. And here’s the kicker: your body reacts as if those thoughts are happening right now.

• Cortisol spikes
  
• Sleep is disrupted
  
• Digestion slows down
  
• The nervous system becomes hyper-alert
  

This means your symptoms—fatigue, bloating, skin issues, anxiety—can all be triggered or intensified by your thought loops.

How to Reclaim Your Calm and Your Health

The solution isn’t to “just stop overthinking.” That never works. Instead, you need to shift the sequence that’s creating your experience.

Instead of:

Story → Action → Body (reaction loop)

Try:

Body → Action → Story (creation loop)

Start by tuning in to how your body feels. Then take a small action that supports it—breathe, move, hydrate, set a boundary, say no. Once your body feels safe and supported, your story begins to shift on its own.

A New Way to Relate to Your Health

Most women try to change their health by thinking differently. But real, lasting change happens when we feel differently first, then act, then rewrite the story.

You don’t need more supplements. You don’t need more information. You need to listen to your body in a different way.

If you’re ready to step out of the overthinking loop and into a grounded, body-led way of healing, tune in to the full episode “Episode #8: Body → Action → Story: The Hidden Loop Behind Your Health” now on the What’s My Body Telling Me? podcast.