Is Overthinking linked to Greater Intelligence and Creativity?

Many people at some point in their lives struggle with putting an end to their destructive thoughts and at times it can feel like your mind is at war, unable to ward off any unnecessary thoughts that consume your mind. 

But first off, what is overthinking? 

And how do you know if you are doing it? 

Well, overthinking is a pretty simple concept but yet it is still complex as far as understanding what is happening in the human mind as far as the brain is concerned.  Overthinking is pretty straight forward, it is simply thinking too much, instead of acting out or doing things.  It is the tendency to analyze, and repeat the same thoughts over and over, instead of acting because it constantly consumes all of your energy and it can make you indecisive, and puts you in the same cycle.  If this is you, then this causes a lot of stress and negatively impacts your daily life which ultimately leads to more anxiety and discomfort.

Does overthinking mean that you are more creative and have a much more active mind than those of others?

Well, Dr. Adams Perkins, an expert of neurobiology at King's College in London seems to think there is a connection since the "Self-generated" thoughts triggered in our brain in parts of the "medial prefrontal cortex" that control our "conscious perception" of a threat, than that means that people suffering with overthinking adapt to panic sooner than people who don't have these problems, and this is because there is high reactivity going on in the "basolateral nuclei" in the amygdala.  This is why people who overthink are more likely to experience detrimental emotions even when no threat is being displayed.

So how exactly are overthinkers' more intelligent and creative than the rest of the population?

It is simple those who suffer and experience more strong negative emotions such as anxiety, sadness, guilt, shame, envy, fear, jealously, loneliness or depressed moods have a highly active mind...

Sounds about right, being someone with anxiety myself, I can relate to this because I do feel like I am creative and often those who experience more pain are more likely to have a highly active imagination.  Dr. Perkins further explains in his study that, "In a sense, worry is the mother of invention. When you think about it, it makes sense. Many of our greatest breakthroughs through the years were a result of worry. Nuclear power? Worry over energy. Advanced weapons? Worry of invasion. Medical breakthroughs? Worry over illness and death."

In addition, a researcher and professor of Psychiatry at State University of New York Downstate Medical Center, has also stated his input saying, "Although we tend to view anxiety as not being good for us, it is linked with intelligence — a highly adaptive trait," adding that, "High levels of anxiety can be disabling, and patients' worries are often irrational...every so often there's a wild-card danger. Then, that excessive worry becomes highly adaptive...People who act on the signals of that wild-card danger are likely to preserve their lives and the lives of their offspring."

So is there a benefit to overthinking and worrying excessively?  No not really, but it does mean that those who become stuck in their thoughts have an active and expressive mind which means they are usually more creative and more intelligent since they are also thinking and asking themselves questions that other people without anxiety don't ask themselves.  So in turn since we are overthinking we grow different parts of our brain,  the part of the brain that is associated with "What if..." is not actually fully developed until we are 25 years old, but if we keep asking ourselves "What if..." more often than that can grow that area of the brain faster before we get to 25!