Why Am I Worrying about the Past?

Written by: Harmandeep Kaur Grewal – MA (Psychology)
Last updated date : March 20, 2023

If you want peace and happiness in your life then you need to leave your past and move forward in life. People who stress about their past mistakes are often unsatisfied with their lives. You can learn to put your past behind you and look forward to new life. Moreover, your stress over the past will affect your present and your future. You may ask, why am I worrying about the past? Also, why do I dwell on the past? WHen you look inward or instrospect then you tend to feel good or bad about what you did in your past.

Additionally, you can learn to stop worrying about things that are out of your control. So, you will feel relieved and relaxed in your life. You can move forward in your life and be happy. You may think about the future and be upset because you have failed in your past. If your past is haunting you for a long period then you need help. Because your worry may be due to underlying mental health problems like anxiety or depression. Furthermore, if you are diagnosed with a mental health disease then you need to take help from a professional. Also, you will get support from the therapies, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy. Likewise, your negative thought pattern will be changed to make you look at the positive side of a scenario.


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Chapter 1:

Why Am I Worrying about the Past?

You may have noticed yourself stressing about your behavior. And questioned yourself that why am I worrying about the past? Also, why do I dwell on the past?

  • First of all, overthinking can cause anxiety and worry in you. If you overthink what you said or did then you will tend to worry. For instance, I was rude to my senior then I kept thinking about it for a long period. I could not concentrate on my work and kept talking to my friends about how I behaved. Therefore, I worried a lot about a matter which happened in my past. But the incident made me overthink and I could not relax. So, I needed to clear the situation with my senior. And, I did clear things. And after that, I felt calm and relieved for a while. Later, I was worried about another matter. So, we tend to worry about what we did in our past and dwell on it.
  • Second of all, your worry is coming from certain things or triggers. For instance, your mistakes or failures. You blame yourself when you are not able to achieve something in life. Moreover, because you got late or did not perform well, keep on causing you guilt and shame. And you keep worrying and stressing over the past.
  • Thirdly, you need to be kind to yourself. You should stop blaming yourself over and again. All of us make mistakes. Because to err is human. Moreover, you learn from your experiences You note down your past errors and try not to repeat any of them in the present or future.

Chapter 2:

Signs of Worry

You may have noticed yourself stressing about your behavior. And questioned yourself that why am I worrying about the past? Also, why do I dwell on the past?
  • First of all, every one of us worries and it is quite normal. We have worries and anxieties about different matters in our lives. I want to study abroad and am anxious about my admission and finances. If you are a student then you worry about marks and passing exams. But if your worry turns excessive that you are unable to do anything else then you suffer.
  • Secondly, you experience overwhelming fear and anxiety that cannot do anything else. Your work or study suffers. Moreover, you stay unhappy and keep dwelling on the past, and do not focus on the present. Therefore, your work life is stressful and tense.
  • Thirdly, you are unable to concentrate on your work. Your worry takes too many hours of your day so much so that you cannot relax in your free time.
  • Next of all, you overthink or ruminate about matters which are normal for other people.
  • Fifthly, you need immediate attention if you have any suicidal thoughts. Your worry can cause you to think about killing yourself.
  • You are not sleeping or eating properly.

Chapter 3:

Train Your Brain Not to Overthink

You may have noticed yourself stressing about your behavior. And questioned yourself that why am I worrying about the past? Also, why do I dwell on the past?

You should practice meditation so that your span of attention increases. Moreover, you can think for some time and then move on to another matter without wasting too much time on one thing. If you feel that some matter is disturbing you then you can drop it for the time being and think about it later. Also, do not get confused between overthinking and problem-solving. You can learn to move forward with your plans and not wait for a long period.

Chapter 4:

Managing Your Worry

You may have noticed yourself stressing about your behavior. And questioned yourself that why am I worrying about the past? Also, why do I dwell on the past?
  • Firstly, if your worry is affecting your daily life then you can go to a doctor. Your doctor will suggest if you need medication or therapy. Moreover, anti-anxiety medicines will help you give quick results and you will not worry. But there are several side effects of anxiety medicine. You can become addicted to it.
  • the Second option that you have is therapy. Your therapist will help you change your negative thoughts to positive thought patterns. You can take cognitive-behavioral therapy that is effective in reducing anxiety in a patient.
  • Thirdly, you can learn about your problem by studying it. Moreover, you need to be aware that you have an anxiety problem that is causing you problem. So, you start working over your issue.
  • Furthermore, you can help in your treatment by listening to your therapist. If you believe what your therapist says then you are going to follow him. And you will see good results from the treatment.
  • Additionally, for better treatment and results you should avoid using alcohol or drugs. Moreover, alcohol will make your symptoms worsen and your treatment may not work.
  • You need to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Moreover, eat good food and exceeded for better mental and physical health.

For more information, please click “Courses” on the navigation bar to access our self-paced online courses on mental health and wellbeing. The course titled “DBT for Social Anxiety” provides more information on the current topic.


"Learnt a lot from this course" Sally

51 sections

6-Weeks Self-Paced

  • Educational Content
  • Quizzes
  • Self-reflection material
  • Suggestions & feedback
  • Worksheet, tips & tools to use

$9.00 $12.00

25% discount