I am overcoming obsessive thinking.

A chipped tooth gets found by the tongue about four hundred times a day. Not because the tongue is stupid. Because something changed, and the system checks changed things relentlessly, whether or not checking helps.

Looping thought does the same job in the same disguise. It feels like preparation. It feels like working the problem, which is why stopping feels irresponsible rather than restful.

The tell is that nothing new arrives. Lap forty contains exactly what lap three contained. Spotting that is not a cure, but it is a different position. You are looking at the loop rather than running in it, and those are not the same place to be standing.