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Plaques form through psoriasis, an autoimmune disease that occurs when too many cells rise to the surface of your skin in an abnormally short period of time. What if I told you your mind makes the same mistake – just with thoughts?
Part 1: Overgrowth
Before I explain the lingering question above, let’s cover psoriasis.
Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory condition of the skin. It is categorized into seven types: plaque psoriasis, guttate psoriasis, inverse psoriasis, pustular psoriasis, erythrodermic psoriasis, nail psoriasis, and psoriatic arthritis.
Skin overgrowth in psoriasis, for all seven types, is due to infection-fighting cells in the immune system mistakenly attacking healthy skin cells. This malfunction causes T lymphocytes (T cells) to stimulate more rapid creation of skin cells, leading to a much faster cell turnover (the process of skin cells being made and rising above the surface of the skin). In plaque psoriasis—the type I will be focusing on in this article—this swift cell turnover leads to dry, itchy, scaly skin patches of dead cells (plaques) on the surface of the skin that easily bleed. The skin cell proliferation can go through periods of flares (intense overgrowth) and periods of less intense skin cell growth.
Now, here’s what I meant by the beginning paragraph.
Your mind performs a parallel process when you overthink:
In psoriasis, the immune system attempts to protect you from any harm caused through a separate immune response that produces additional skin cells. However, this attempt results in the overproduction of cells, ultimately harming your body rather than repairing it due to the formation of painful plaques. Similarly, when you overthink your mind is trying to protect you from unpleasant feelings – regret, embarrassment, shame – but the prevention over-produces possibilities, risks, and “what ifs,” ultimately provoking emotions related to the same ones your mind was trying to avoid.
Although overthinking in general is normal, it becomes dangerous exactly at this point: when your brain keeps replaying or analyzing so much that the analysis expands well beyond the point of usefulness, hurting your mental state rather than helping it.
Indeed, the true danger of overthinking is its chronic development. Like psoriasis, it starts as a small irritation – something you tell yourself you can ignore. But just as an increase in stress and scratching can gradually increase the intensity of flares in psoriasis, constant overthinking of various topics teaches the brain to repeat the recurring process – not just the action itself, but its growing severity and variety, too…
To be continued :)
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