There is a moment when you stop thinking about something and start thinking in circles. The same scenario relived multiple times, the same words of a conversation reanalysed from different angles, the same decisions revisited after they have already been made. You are not looking for a solution. You are going round in circles.
Overthinking — or rumination, as it is defined in the literature — is not an excess of intelligence nor a sign of excessive care. It is an automatic cognitive pattern: the mind clinging to a thought instead of letting it pass, processing it in a loop instead of moving forward. The result is not clarity, it is exhaustion.
The paradoxical thing is that the more you try to stop thinking about it, the more you think about it. The attempt to suppress a thought tends to amplify it — a mechanism that psychological research has documented extensively. The way out of the loop does not pass through willpower. It passes through detachment.
What happens in the mind during rumination
Rumination is associated with hyperactivation of the so-called Default Mode Network — the brain network that activates when the mind is not focused on an external task and tends to wander. In individuals prone to rumination, this network remains persistently active in a self-referential way: the mind keeps producing thoughts about itself, about its past experiences, about its future concerns.
In parallel, the activity of the cognitive networks associated with executive control and mental flexibility decreases — those that allow attention to shift, perspective to change, and dysfunctional thought patterns to be interrupted. The result is a mind that spins, and cannot stop spinning.
What the research says
The relationship between mindfulness meditation and the reduction of rumination is one of the most studied areas in this field, with a growing number of meta-analyses confirming a consistent direction.
A meta-analysis published in the Journal of Affective Disorders (Mao et al., 2023), which analysed randomised controlled trials on the effects of mindfulness interventions on ruminative thinking, found that mindfulness-based practices are associated with a significant and moderate reduction in ruminative thoughts compared to control groups. The researchers observed that meditation may act by interrupting automatic rumination processes through the enhancement of meta-awareness — the ability to observe one’s thoughts without being overwhelmed by them. (Mao L. et al., Journal of Affective Disorders, 2023; 321:83–95)
A systematic review and meta-analysis published in BMC Psychology (Wei et al., 2025), which analysed randomised controlled trials on the efficacy of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy on rumination, confirmed that MBCT is associated with a significant reduction in rumination scores compared to control groups, with effects maintained at follow-up. The researchers identified mindfulness, self-compassion, and decentering as the main active mechanisms — the ability to observe one’s thoughts as transient mental events, not as facts. (Wei S. et al., BMC Psychology, 2025; 13:968)
On the neurobiological level, a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (Brewer et al., 2011) found that experienced meditators showed relative deactivation of the main nodes of the Default Mode Network compared to controls, consistently across different types of meditation — suggesting that regular meditative practice can structurally modify the way the brain manages unfocused thought and rumination. (Brewer J.A. et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2011; 108(50):20254–20259. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1112029108)
Particularly relevant is a study published in JMIR Mental Health (Sommerhoff et al., 2023), which examined the effect of a minimal 5-minute body scan practice before sleep for 10 days on repetitive negative thinking. The results showed significant reductions in rumination and stress with continued practice, with effects maintained at two months of follow-up. It should be noted that the benefits did not emerge acutely during individual sessions, but manifested over time — suggesting that even brief practices produce a measurable impact on the mental loop, provided they are maintained consistently. (Sommerhoff A., Ehring T., Takano K., JMIR Mental Health, 2023)