Overthinking, in numbers.
Every statistic on this page links to the study it comes from. No viral numbers, no unsourced percentages. Compiled and maintained by the Mindflex clinical team.
The short version
Overthinking is the repetitive, unproductive revisiting of thoughts, decisions, and conversations. In the research literature it is studied as rumination when it dwells on the past and as worry when it scans the future. It is one of the most widely shared cognitive habits ever measured, it is strongly linked to poor sleep and low mood in longitudinal studies, and it responds to specific, well-studied interventions. The numbers below tell that story, with sources.
What Mindflex's own user data shows
Mindflex measures psychological flexibility in the app with the MPFI-24, a validated questionnaire from the Acceptance and Commitment Therapy research tradition. The numbers below are aggregated baseline measurements from app users who identify as overthinkers, collected between August 6 and September 4, 2026. This is product usage data from a self-selected group, not a clinical study.
Among 238 Mindflex users who identify as overthinkers, the average psychological flexibility index at baseline was 42 out of 100, with a median of 43, measured with the MPFI-24.
Source: Mindflex baseline data, n=238, Aug 6 to Sep 4, 202668% of overthinkers scored below the scale midpoint on psychological flexibility in their first Mindflex measurement.
Source: Mindflex baseline data, n=238, 2026The weakest ACT skill among overthinkers in Mindflex baseline data is defusion, the ability to get distance from one's own thoughts, at an average of 34%. Present-moment awareness scored highest at 47%.
Source: Mindflex baseline data, n=238, 2026. Subscale averages: defusion 34%, committed action 41%, acceptance 42%, values 42%, self-as-context 45%, present-moment awareness 47%.How common overthinking is
73% of adults aged 25 to 35 identify as overthinkers, according to survey research by University of Michigan psychologist Susan Nolen-Hoeksema.
Source: University of Michigan (2003)Overthinking declines with age: 52% of 45 to 55 year olds and only 20% of 65 to 75 year olds report being overthinkers in the same University of Michigan research.
Source: University of Michigan (2003)57% of women and 43% of men are overthinkers, according to University of Michigan survey research.
Source: University of Michigan (2003)43% of American adults said they felt more anxious than the year before, up from 37% in 2023 and 32% in 2022, an American Psychiatric Association poll found.
Source: American Psychiatric Association (2024)About 1 in 6 U.S. adults (17%) have used an AI chatbot to discuss their mental health, and 35% would be willing to talk to one instead of a professional, per the American Psychiatric Association's 2026 poll.
Source: American Psychiatric Association (2026)36% of U.S. adults under 30 rate their own mental health as only fair or poor, compared with 9% of those 65 and older, Pew Research Center found.
Source: Pew Research Center (2026)What it does to sleep and mood
91.4% of the worries recorded by people with generalized anxiety disorder never came true, a Penn State study published in Behavior Therapy found.
Source: LaFreniere & Newman, Behavior Therapy (2020). Note: the viral claim that "85% of worries never happen" has no traceable primary source; this is the real, peer-reviewed number.In a sample of 1,132 adults, rumination predicted the onset of major depression one year later, even after controlling for baseline symptoms.
Source: Nolen-Hoeksema (2000), Journal of Abnormal Psychology74% of Americans report losing sleep due to stress and 68% due to anxiety, according to a 2024 American Academy of Sleep Medicine survey.
Source: American Academy of Sleep Medicine (2024)More than 1 in 3 U.S. adults regularly sleep less than the recommended 7 hours per night, according to CDC data.
Source: CDC via AASM24% of U.S. adults rate their average stress at 8 or higher on a 10-point scale, up from 19% in 2019, according to the APA's Stress in America survey.
Source: American Psychological Association (2023)What actually helps
People who wrote a to-do list for 5 minutes before bed fell asleep on average 9 minutes faster than those who wrote about completed tasks, a Baylor University sleep lab study found.
Source: Scullin et al., Baylor University (2018)In a randomized controlled trial, adults who journaled online for 15 minutes three times a week showed significantly lower anxiety after one month compared to usual care.
Source: Smyth et al., JMIR Mental Health (2018)Gratitude predicts better sleep quality and faster sleep onset, working through more positive and fewer negative pre-sleep thoughts, a study of 400 adults showed.
Source: Wood et al., Journal of Psychosomatic Research (2009)47% of U.S. adults wish they had someone to help them manage their stress, the APA's Stress in America 2023 survey found.
Source: American Psychological Association (2023)Despite rising anxiety, only 24% of U.S. adults sought professional mental health support in the past year, and only 36.9% of people with anxiety disorders receive treatment.
Sources: APA (2024), ADAAMental health apps lose almost all their users within weeks: median 15-day retention is just 3.9% and 30-day retention 3.3%, an analysis of 93 apps found.
Source: Baumel et al., JMIR (2019)How to cite this page
You are welcome to cite any statistic on this page. Please credit the original study (linked on each number) and, where useful, this collection: Mindflex Clinical Team, "Overthinking Statistics: The Research in Numbers," mindflex.world/overthinking-statistics, 2026.