South Africa leads as world’s top nation for overthinking

IF YOU'VE ever found yourself staring at the ceiling at 2am, replaying a conversation or stressing over the rising cost of bread, you're in good company - in fact, you're living in the overthinking capital of the world.

- ALYSSIA BIRJALAL

A new global study by MoneySuperMarket has crunched the numbers on mental noise, and the results are in: South Africans are the world champions of overthinking.

While we're known for our resilience and "local is lekker" spirit, it seems that beneath the surface, our minds are working overtime.

The heavy weight of "What if?"

The survey, which polled over 3 800 people across 20 countries, found that a staggering 75% of South Africans admit to overthinking "often" or "very often".

To put that in perspective, we're out-worrying Poland (71%), Greece (70%), Mexico (68%) and Portugal (67%). There is no "calm" zone on the map. Even the countries that overthink the least are still crossing the 50% threshold. Germany (54%), UK (56%), Japan (56%), USA (56%) and Australia (57%).

But it's not just that we worry - it's how much time it's stealing from our lives.

· The global average: Most people spend about 90 minutes a day overthinking.