Psychology Today | 20.08.2026 21:51
Most of the time, I see overthinking in children build slowly. It's a worry here, a reassurance-seeking habit there, until a child is quietly stuck in a loop. But every so often in my more than 35 years as a child psychologist, a parent describes something stranger: Their easygoing kid becomes, almost overnight, someone unrecognizable. Parents say things like "He is obsessed with needing reassurance," or "All of a sudden she's terrified of germs or mistakes." The theme is kids who suddenly panic over things that never bothered them a week earlier. That’s not typical overthinking. That’s a red flag.
