"Overthinking (often called rumination) is when kids get sucked into repetitive, unproductive thought loops driven by anxiety. But while rumination is usually focused on perseverating about the past, overtthinking encompasses the past and the future. This could mean kids getting stuck in mental loops when choosing a math test answer, struggling to engage a peer or a teacher, or being unsure whether to join a new activity."
"Based on my work with overthinking children and teens, I use a four-word acronym with parents to help their kids. This is: PACE. It stands for Pause, Acknowledge, Contain, and Engage. The rationale for PACE is that when your child or teen is caught in anxious loops, the fastest way to help them is not by offering reassurance or by giving a logical answer to the worry."
Overthinking involves repetitive, unproductive thought loops about past and future events driven by anxiety. Rumination typically focuses on the past, while overthinking covers both past and future. Children may overthink test answers, social interactions, or whether to join activities. Obsessive-compulsive disorder involves intrusive, upsetting thoughts that require exposure-and-response-prevention approaches. A four-step approach—Pause, Acknowledge, Contain, Engage—interrupts anxious loops by withholding reassurance or logical answers, guiding children to break free. Confidence develops through doing rather than overanalyzing; parental reassurance and excessive logic often increase anxiety. Containing worries provides space for regulation and subsequent engagement in tasks.
Read at Psychology Today
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