You are exhausted. You finally get a quiet moment. Then your brain starts sprinting.

You try to breathe. You try to distract yourself. You try to “stop thinking.”
And your brain says, no.

I have had nights where I am tired, but my mind feels wide awake. It is not because I love stress. It is because my brain learned a pattern.

And I see this with teens and young adults all the time.
Your brain is not broken. It is trying to protect you.

But it is using the wrong strategy.

The Part No One Explains

Most people think an anxious brain needs more calming tools.

Sometimes it does.
But a lot of the time, the bigger issue is what you are feeding it all day.

If your life runs on pressure, avoidance, scrolling, caffeine, skipped meals, and doing everything alone, your brain stays on alert.
Then when things get quiet, your brain uses the silence to scan.

It starts asking:
What did I do wrong today?
What if they are mad at me?
What if tomorrow goes badly?
What if I can’t handle it?

It does not start because you are weak.
It starts because your system has learned that it has to stay ready.

The Signal Under the Panic

When your brain will not shut off, it feels like danger.
Your body might feel tight. Your chest might feel heavy. Your stomach might flip.

Your brain reads those sensations and says, something is wrong.

But sometimes your body is not sounding an alarm.
Sometimes it is reacting to how you have been living.

Here is the truth.
Your thoughts speed up when your nervous system stays in overdrive.
And your nervous system stays in overdrive when it keeps getting fuel.

A Small Shift that Changes Everything

Instead of asking, “How do I stop overthinking?”
Try this question.

“What is powering the spiral?”

Because once you find the power source, you stop blaming yourself.
You get strategic.

And you stop trying to force calm in the moment.
You start reducing the noise at the source.

One Thing You Can Do This Week

Try a 7-day experiment. Pick one.

1. The first-step rule.
   
   Think of one thing you have been avoiding. The text you keep rewriting. The email you keep saving as a draft. The assignment you keep pushing off.
   Do the smallest first step today. Two minutes. One sentence. One question. One click.

Your brain learns trust through action.

2. The fuel check.
   
   Before you label it anxiety, check your basics.
   Did I eat real food today?
   Did I sleep enough to function?
   Did I stack caffeine on top of stress?

Sometimes your brain feels loud because your body feels unsafe.

If you want the other three habits that quietly keep your brain in overdrive, I break them down in this week’s episode.

Where The Episode Comes In

This week’s episode breaks down five habits that keep your brain in overdrive, even when you want peace.

No generic grounding list.
No “take a deep breath” lecture.

This is the real stuff that quietly fuels the spiral, so you can spot it and start turning the volume down.

Episode 47: Why Your Mind Won’t Shut Off and What’s Actually Fueling It

Just a Reminder

You are not failing because your brain feels loud.

Your brain learned to stay ready.
It learned to scan.
It learned to prepare for impact.

You can teach it something new.

You do not have to fix everything tonight.
You do not have to carry everything alone.

Start with one small shift.
Give your system a reason to feel safe again.

With you in this,
Jessica
Mindset Coach for Anxious Teens & Young Adults

P.S. If you want help building your confidence or figuring out where to begin, book a 1:1 Confidence Coaching. I work with teens, young adults, and adults, and together we’ll map out a clear path forward.

Related Listening

• Struggling with confidence and second-guessing yourself more than usual.

• Feeling pressure from family dynamics, comments, or expectations.

• Feeling behind as the year ends and comparing your timeline to everyone else’s.

• Finding yourself shrinking or holding back to avoid judgment.

• When anxiety shows up suddenly and you do not understand why.