Does anyone else have a bad habit of overthinking too much?

[ApplePersonFreak]

How do you stop it if you do? I really need to get better at it..

I recently just got a job offer that I've been hoping for and it happened, yet I haven't been able to truly relax and just celebrate. Like all jobs, they require drug testing, etc.

Now I do NOT do any type of drugs at all or drink alcohol, and of course there's nothing to worry about when I don't do any of that stuff, however the only thing my mind is "overthinking" is possibilities for a false positive. I've been looking stuff up online as far as what could cause it, and I haven't taken any of those OTC or prescription drugs, but are there any foods besides from poppy seed bagels/hempseeds in some snack bars that cause it. I keep thinking back to the past few days before the test as to what I've consumed and eaten but who knows if they have hempseed oils or whatnot hidden in them.

Anyways, I know it probably sounds so silly and a bit sad, but that's how my mind can get sometimes. I always overthink things often instead of taking the time to enjoy them. Thanks!

 

[DeltaMac]

IMHO, you are not overthinking anything. You are just concerned about something that is really unlikely to happen , despite what you may have heard or read.

Consider that your new company is NOT trying to accuse you of anything (It's not personal!)

Here's what I think is good information.
Read the part about false positives. Perhaps that will help relieve your fears.
The key point? - an accredited lab will confirm initial positive results with more sophisticated analysis. If you get a positive result from an accredited lab, then it's drugs - and not just an anecdotal poppy seed.

 

[ApplePersonFreak]

IMHO, you are not overthinking anything. You are just concerned about something that is really unlikely to happen , despite what you may have heard or read.

Consider that your new company is NOT trying to accuse you of anything (It's not personal!)

Here's what I think is good information.
Read the part about false positives. Perhaps that will help relieve your fears.
The key point? - an accredited lab will confirm initial positive results with more sophisticated analysis. If you get a positive result from an accredited lab, then it's drugs - and not just an anecdotal poppy seed.

Thanks for this! I think I'm only "paranoid" about it because my last drug test for my previous job lost my drug test somehow and since I never heard back till about a week later, that was when scenarios started going around in my head as to what if they found something.

I just took this on Friday, and with today being a holiday, the lab probably won't receive it until tomorrow. But because this has happened once, that's why I'm "paranoid" or "overthinking" it.

 

[eyoungren]

Yeah, I have that habit. So does my wife. I can only speak for myself though.

The one thing that helps me is to tell myself that "X" hasn't happened. And there is usually no evidence that "X" will happen or is likely to happen. Now that doesn't cause me to fully relax usually, but it does let me get a handle on it and stops my mind from going to ridiculous places.

 

[ApplePersonFreak]

Yeah, I have that habit. So does my wife. I can only speak for myself though.

The one thing that helps me is to tell myself that "X" hasn't happened. And there is usually no evidence that "X" will happen or is likely to happen. Now that doesn't cause me to fully relax usually, but it does let me get a handle on it and stops my mind from going to ridiculous places.

Yeah that's what kind of calms me down too. But unlike a lot of people, my mind is always thinking about something, lol. Maybe I need to pick up meditation or something

 

[eyoungren]

Yeah that's what kind of calms me down too. But unlike a lot of people, my mind is always thinking about something, lol. Maybe I need to pick up meditation or something

Or focus on something else.

My wife often asks me why I am unconcerned about certain things. It's not that I am unconcerned, just that I am thinking about other things as a way to mitigate the panic I will incur thinking about the thing it appears I am unconcerned about.

 

[arkitect]

Does anyone else have a bad habit of overthinking too much?
…
How do you stop it if you do? I really need to get better at it.

That'd be me… at least until a few years ago.
I'd drive myself insane by being anxious about things. Stuff… little things that just shouldn't/won't/don't/can't matter.

I took up Yoga — an hour's worth or so most days. And also meditation.

Works for me. But it is always "a work in progress".

Good luck.

 

[jeremy h]

Its easy to say don't worry ... but when I do - I always remember something my my wise gran used to say to me when I was young - "Don't worry about your worries, its the things you don't worry about - that you should be worrying about..." Never really understood it at the time (she never used one word when ten were more confusing) but as I've got older it's made more and more sense.

 

[maflynn]

I think its just human nature to dwell on the details and get overly worked up.

For me and this may sound odd, but I try not to focus all my attention and energy on the big picture but rather a small goal. Someone once told me how do you eat an elephant? When that was posed to me, I was like, man that's impossible, its too big, there's no way to eat it. She said, one bite at a time.

You focus too much time on the end goal, you'll get overwhelmed, but if you focus on the small steps that get you to the goal, then you'll arrive.

 

[Gav.Winters]

This is one of those things that everyone thinks is unique to them yet we actually all do it. A favourite quote of mine is 'Worry is a down payment on a problem you may never have'. Your situation also shows the importance of not being too heavily reliant on any one scenario occurring. When I got out of college I lined up a ton of interviews, some of which I didn't even particularly care about, just so I had options. Walking into any one room and thinking 'the next 30 minutes could change your life' is not a good place to be in.

 

[Plutonius]

I'll have to think on this question before I can give a good answer .

Things usually are what they are and worrying will not change anything.

 

[lowendlinux]

No..

Like all things in life I'm either prepared or not and no amount of stress on my end is going to change the outcome.

 

[Gregg2]

As noted above, this is not "overthinking", it's worrying. Doesn't add anything positive to your life. I try not to do it.

 

[ApplePersonFreak]

Thanks, guys. For me it's just the "what ifs" that keep popping into my head and then the scenarios start coming into play. I just need to get better at it and just live life. Easier said than done LOL

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Thanks, guys. For me it's just the "what ifs" that keep popping into my head and then the scenarios start coming into play. I just need to get better at it and just live life. Easier said than done LOL

No, I don't "over-think"; now, I brood, cogitate, mull over, ponder, look back on - sometimes with regret, sometimes with acceptance, sometimes with delighted surprise, - occasionally dissect, and sometimes speculate - but, rarely, would I say that I "over-think" something.

 

[960design]

How do you stop it if you do? I really need to get better at it..

I'll have to get back to you on this.

 

[A.Goldberg]

How do you stop it if you do? I really need to get better at it..

I recently just got a job offer that I've been hoping for and it happened, yet I haven't been able to truly relax and just celebrate. Like all jobs, they require drug testing, etc.

Now I do NOT do any type of drugs at all or drink alcohol, and of course there's nothing to worry about when I don't do any of that stuff, however the only thing my mind is "overthinking" is possibilities for a false positive. I've been looking stuff up online as far as what could cause it, and I haven't taken any of those OTC or prescription drugs, but are there any foods besides from poppy seed bagels/hempseeds in some snack bars that cause it. I keep thinking back to the past few days before the test as to what I've consumed and eaten but who knows if they have hempseed oils or whatnot hidden in them.

Anyways, I know it probably sounds so silly and a bit sad, but that's how my mind can get sometimes. I always overthink things often instead of taking the time to enjoy them. Thanks!

I work in psychiatric medicine and have extensive knowledge about drug testing methodologies. I assure you, unless you are actually using drugs, you're really over thinking this.

False positive can happen depending on a variety of factors, but primarily the issue is medications you may be taking. Poppy seeds can cause issues, popping up as opiates, however this problem has been somewhat mitigated by increasing the threshold for a positive result. If you want to be safe you should avoid eating poppy seeds a few days before the test. If you take a drug like Adderall, you will test positive for amphetamines, but in that case you would have a prescription.

Employee drug testing is generally very limited in the number of substances tested. A lot of employees only do standard 5 panel tests- cocaine, amphetamines, natural opiates (morphine, codiene, and heroin), marijuana/thc, and PCP. The sample is either tested using and instant test with a positive result being sent to a lab, or directly sent to a lab.

At the lab generally the GC/MS (gas chromatography mass spectrometry) testing method is utilized. If you do have a false positive, this test will distinguish this. GC/MS is very specific and will rule out false positives. Pre-employment drug screens are done all the time and have a high degree of accuracy. Like I said, unless you are using illicit substances or are using unprescribed narcotics, you really have nothing to worry about.

If you find you are chronically anxious or have intrusive or obsessive thinking that affect your quality of life, I would suggest seeking out a therapist.

 

[BarracksSi]

I took a lot of drug tests in my previous career. I stopped worrying after the third one.

I'm now a "Pro" at cutting off the stream at will.

Re: prescribed narcotics: You would be good IF the prescription is active (that is, you're still within its expiration date), it's in YOUR name, and you are staying within the recommended dosage. Deviate from this protocol and you could be flagged for abuse of a controlled substance.

 

[A.Goldberg]

I took a lot of drug tests in my previous career. I stopped worrying after the third one.

I'm now a "Pro" at cutting off the stream at will.

Re: prescribed narcotics: You would be good IF the prescription is active (that is, you're still within its expiration date), it's in YOUR name, and you are staying within the recommended dosage. Deviate from this protocol and you could be flagged for abuse of a controlled substance.

I've never heard of employers checking to see the therapeutic levels of prescription drugs. It's not that accurate of a science either. Lets say subject A has been on high dose Oxycodone for years and takes 120mg/day- they'd feel relatively normal. Give 120mg of Oxycodone to an opiate naive person and they would almost undoubtably overdose and die. As long as you have have the script to justify the postive result, you're all set.

(In the medical field we look at specific levels of controlled/narcotic drugs quite frequently- both to determine severity of drug abuse or to ensure medication complaince, especially in pain management cases or the use of Suboxone/buprenorphine).

A lot of employers however don't even do that extensive of testing, mainly due to cost but also the more susbstances you test the greater the chances of false positives. Keep in mind semi-synthetic (Oxycodone, hydrocodone) and synthetic (methadone, fentanyl, buprenorphine) opioids won't show up on on a standard 5-panel drug test- those only test for natural opiates (codiene, morphine, heroin). Expanded opioid panels are becoming a little more common given the skyrocketing rates of addiction.

Some mainstream drugs won't even show up on drug tests. If the employer does a Benzodiazapine panel, Klonopin/clonazapam (a commonly prescribed BZD) is very, very hard to detect. It rarely will show on an instant test, and is difficult to detect with GC/MS. The drug is very potent and dosed in very tiny amounts, if I remember correctly the metabolite concentrations are subsequently very low, making them hard to ID. If you were taking mega doses for extended periods, then it would be more likely to show up.

 

[heehee]

You need this book
How to Stop Worrying and Start Living by Dale Carnegie

And this.

 

[BarracksSi]

I've never heard of employers checking to see the therapeutic levels of prescription drugs. It's not that accurate of a science either. Lets say subject A has been on high dose Oxycodone for years and takes 120mg/day- they'd feel relatively normal. Give 120mg of Oxycodone to an opiate naive person and they would almost undoubtably overdose and die. As long as you have have the script to justify the postive result, you're all set.

(tangent: I still have a hard time using the shorthand "script" when referring to a medical "prescription"... I keep thinking of "movie script" or a snippet of Javascript... )

All I know about it is, in the military these days, they really don't want anyone to end up abusing the meds we're often given. I don't know how detailed every regular drug test gets, either (a random every month or two, and an all-hands test maybe twice a year; so that's a LOT of urine that needs to get processed).

I did know a kid who was getting booted out for taking some of the leftover Percocet (or maybe it was Oxycontin) for a minor recurrence of the pain for which it had originally been prescribed. The prescription was several months out of date, though, so they docked him for misusing a controlled substance. I think they may have been kind enough to give him an honorable discharge, but I'm really not sure.

The point was, he used it outside of the timeframe for which the doctor prescribed it, so it was improper usage. Similarly, if his roommate had taken a dose ("Hey bro, I think I tweaked my knee, can I have one of those?") and popped positive on a test, they both would've gotten into trouble.

They were really strict about drugs while I was in. They were heavily researching how to catch "spice", and were supposedly making good progress, too.

But for the OP's worry about poppyseed bagels? Nah. No big deal.

 

[Three141]

Yep!!! but recently I got a heck of a lot better at stopping this behaviour.

When I start to over think; one deep breath clear my mind and push out the thoughts.
If I can; I try to do some cycling.

 

[C DM]

You need this book
How to Stop Worrying and Start Living by Dale Carnegie

And this.
View attachment 702669

The issue with all of that are all the decisions that go into it. Sometimes deciding that "Yes" or "No" requires a good amount of analysis and debating and overthinking. And, perhaps more importantly, if/when you get to the part of being able to do something about it, it can get even more complex given that there might be various things that could be done about it that would have different effects on different things to different degrees, which provides a lot of room for overthinking.