More than four out of five adults in Germany consider themselves overthinkers-that is, excessive and often unproductive brooders. 82.9 percent say they brood at least occasionally, 48.6 percent even frequently or constantly. This was revealed by a Mars Wrigley survey conducted for the launch of the Extra Plus Chill limited edition chewing gum, for which the market research institute Censuswide surveyed 2,000 people aged 18 and over in Germany.
How loudly the mental cinema runs depends primarily on age. Among 18- to 24-year-olds, 64.9 percent count themselves among frequent or chronic brooders, among 25- to 34-year-olds it's 64.0 percent. From age 55 onwards, the figure drops to 30.7 percent. There's also a gap between genders: 54.3 percent of women place themselves in the upper brooding category, while only 43.5 percent of men do.
The Trigger Often Lies in Interpersonal Matters
The big questions of life are rarely to blame for overthinking. 91.9 percent experience thought spirals from small everyday situations, nearly 60 percent experience them at least once a week, 26.9 percent daily or multiple times daily. Here too, younger people show greater susceptibility: among 18- to 24-year-olds, daily (or multiple times daily) brooding applies to 39.7 percent, in the 55+ generation to 16.2 percent.
What occupies the mind often has to do with other people. At the very top is the question "Why did I say yes to that?" with 27.6 percent, closely followed by "Why haven't they responded yet?" with 27.2 percent. Next come "Did I say too much?" (25.3 percent) and "Is it rude if I cancel?" (23.6 percent). The lack of response concerns women at 31.9 percent significantly more than men at 23.0 percent. As specific triggers, respondents most frequently cite changes in friendships (12.9 percent), an embarrassing conversation (9.1 percent), and a possibly inappropriate message (9.0 percent).
Sent-And Then Reread Multiple Times
The control often begins even before the brooding. 77.3 percent of all respondents reread an already sent message at least once, 39.9 percent at least twice. For the youngest, this is almost routine: 65.1 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds check twice or more often, among those 55 and older only 20.9 percent.
What they're looking for was surveyed by Censuswide among the 1,954 participants who send messages, emails, or DMs at all. In this group, typos and spelling errors lead at 45.0 percent, followed by possible misunderstandings (35.0 percent), the right tone (23.7 percent), and a possibly too dramatic effect (20.3 percent).
Responding is also calculated. Around 60 percent of the same group wait at least three minutes to avoid appearing too interested. Most common is a pause of ten to 30 minutes (21.4 percent). Only 16.1 percent type back immediately without thinking about the effect.
What Can Help Against Brooding
As a remedy against the thought spiral, those affected primarily use distraction, according to the Extra Plus Chill launch survey. 26.7 percent throw themselves into a task, 22.6 percent listen to music. These are followed by distance from the smartphone (18.3 percent), a walk (17.3 percent), and a short break (16.9 percent). Curious: 16.8 percent scroll on their phone of all things to distract themselves. Thus, almost as many reach for the device as consciously put it away.
Chewing gum has significantly more potential than the initial response suggests. Actually, only 5.6 percent mention it. When asked specifically, a different picture emerges: Of the chewers, 51.2 percent consider it likely to use it as a small reset during overthinking. Among 18- to 24-year-olds it's 58.4 percent, and even from age 55 onwards, 45.1 percent still agree. Of the gum chewers, 28.9 percent associate it with a fresher feeling, 25.4 percent with a distraction from the thought spiral. 23.3 percent simply appreciate having something to do.
The idea behind this can be applied to all mentioned anti-brooding strategies: What slows down the thought spiral often doesn't have to be big. An occasion that gives the mind a different task for a few seconds is enough to avoid falling into overthinking in the first place.
