People with anxiety know the familiar feeling of being stuck in your head with worry and overthinking. These bouts of anxiety often come with intrusive thoughts, rumination, and overanalyzing.

They can keep you feeling trapped. According to Emma McAdam, LMFT, a licensed marriage and family therapist and founder of Therapy in a Nutshell, the way to fix these thoughts is to retrain your brain.

“Your brain secretly believes that overthinking is protecting you,” McAdam said.

The 4 types of overthinking

McAdam explained that there are four different types of overthinking: worry, intrusive thoughts, overplanning or overanalyzing, and rumination. She broke each one down.

McAdam shared that worry is the “fuel” of anxiety disorders. “Worry is where you’re constantly thinking about what could go wrong in the future,” she explained, noting that it contributes to chronic stress fueled by the stress hormones cortisol and adrenaline.

Type #2: Intrusive thoughts

McAdam cited a study that found that 94% of people report having intrusive thoughts—so if you have them, you are not alone.

Examples of intrusive thoughts include:

What if I hurt someone else?

What if I do something sexually inappropriate?

What if I swerve into traffic?

What if I don’t really love my partner?

What if I touch some bad germs?

What if I lose........

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