Your Brain Is a Drama Queen (Here’s How to Shut It Up
Your brain loves drama. It’s like that friend who overreacts to everything: “OMG, Karen didn’t comment on your post. She hates you!” Back in the day, this overthinking was useful. It kept your ancestors alive by spotting sketchy berries and tigers lurking in bushes. But now? Your brain is just out here creating soap operas about Karen’s Instagram feed and whether your “Thanks!” in that last email sounded too passive-aggressive.
Let’s be honest: your brain is like the drama queen of all drama queens. Instead of helping you focus on important stuff - like your dreams, your health, or vibing in peace - it’s over here throwing tantrums about nonsense like:
“Why did they read my text and not reply?”
“Did I accidentally insult Susan when I said, ‘Have a nice day’?”
“Should I Google this random headache? Yeah, let’s spiral just in case.”
It’s exhausting. But here’s the thing: you don’t have to put up with this. You can shut your brain up and make it chill. For real.
Why Your Brain Loves Drama
First off, your brain isn’t evil. It’s just bad at knowing when to quit. Daniel Kahneman, the prize-winning author who wrote Thinking, Fast and Slow (a fancy book about why your brain is kind of dumb sometimes), says we’re wired for negativity bias. Translation: your brain spends more time freaking out about what might go wrong than appreciating that your coffee tastes amazing today. Good for avoiding predators. Bad for obsessing over your boyfriend’s emoji choices.
Eckhart Tolle, who’s basically the chill guru we all need, calls this your “pain-body.” In The Power of Now, he explains that your brain clings to drama because it’s addicted to old wounds. It’s like your brain doesn’t know how to let go of its high school revenge fantasies.
And Carolyn Myss, in Anatomy of the Spirit, drops a truth bomb: overthinking doesn’t just mess with your mind, it drains your body’s energy too. When your brain won’t shut up about what your ex from 12 years ago just did yesterday, it’s not just annoying. It’s literally zapping your strength.
So yeah, your brain’s stuck in survival mode, running bad scripts it learned thousands of years ago. The good news? You can rewrite them with a 3-step brain detox.
The 3-Step Brain Detox
1. Call It Out
Your thoughts aren’t facts. They’re more like bad improv. Eckhart Tolle says that just noticing your brain’s drama is enough to break the cycle. So, when your brain spirals into “Oh no, my supposed best friend liked my post but didn’t comment,” just call it out:
“Oh, cool. My brain thinks this matters. Truth: It doesn’t!”
And guess what? Neuroscience backs this up. Studies on mindfulness (shoutout to Bessel van der Kolk’s The Body Keeps the Score) show that labeling your thoughts takes the emotional charge out of them. Basically, when you call your brain out for being extra, it stops being so dramatic.
2. Move Your Body
Your brain and body are like roommates. If one’s freaking out, the other needs to step in. Bessel van der Kolk explains that movement helps your body process stress. It’s why yoga, walking, or even dancing like a maniac can reset your brain.
So next time you’re overthinking, don’t just sit there. Drop and do 10 squats or shake it out like you’re at a silent disco. Bonus points if you imagine Karen watching, horrified. Overthinking loves stillness, but anxiety? It can’t survive leg day.
3. Turn Off Your Phone
That endless scroll of random dopamine hits? Shut it down. According to Cal Newport in Digital Minimalism, your brain is drowning in too much input. Disconnecting, even for a little while, gives it space to breathe.
Joe Dispenza, the mentor who blends neuroscience with mysticism, backs this up in Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself. He says your brain gets stuck in patterns because of distraction. So turn off the noise, play some ABBA, and give your brain a break. Seriously, the world won’t end because you didn’t reply to someone’s story.
Make Peace With Your Drama Queen
Your brain isn’t broken. It’s just stuck in survival mode, replaying the same dumb drama because it doesn’t know any better.
Carolyn Myss says, “Your biography becomes your biology.”
So if you keep letting your brain spiral, it’s gonna show up in your body eventually. The fix? Start small.
The more you call out your overthinking, move your body, and unplug from everyone’s highlight reel, the more you’ll notice the mental chaos fading. Your brain can learn to vibe in peace, but it needs your help.
So now it’s your turn. What’s the dumbest thing your brain has overthought recently? Comment and share, bonus points if it’s funnier than Karen’s Instagram post.
