Thinking or going in circles? Christophe André's three questions

In a short video made with France Culture for the publisher L'Iconoclaste (June 2018), French psychiatrist Christophe André, author of La Vie intérieure, talks about the kind of thinking that goes round and round. André calls it thinking without end and without result. It fools us, as that video puts it, because we believe we're reflecting when we're only turning the same thing over. The advice comes in two steps: notice it as early as you can, then ask three questions.

"Ai-je l'impression d'avoir avancé vers une solution ?"

In English: "Do I feel I've moved closer to a solution?"

Christophe André, Éditions de L'Iconoclaste, 2018

The three questions

The first question is the one above. The second asks whether you see things more clearly. The third asks whether you feel any relief from having thought about it. If the answer to all three is no, André says, you're no longer reflecting. You're going round, and it's better to stop.

There's a point about timing too. Catch it early, André says, because once the engine has been running for a while, it's much harder to stop.

The questions judge thinking by what it produces. Going over a worry can feel like serious work. The three questions ask for evidence of that work: a step forward, a clearer picture, or some ease.

Where the idea comes from, and what research adds

André presents the questions as classic ones, and they have a known lineage. A German science article on going over things describes a "two-minute rule" from the US psychologists Michael Addis and Christopher Martell: when you notice it, keep going for two minutes, then ask whether you've moved toward a solution, understood something you didn't before, or become less hard on yourself. If you can't answer at least one with a clear yes, you were probably going round (Schwenkenbecher with Ehring, 2024).

Lab research suggests why the kind of thinking matters. In three experiments, volunteers practiced thinking about events either concretely (what happened, and how) or in an abstract, evaluative way (what does this say about me). Those who practiced the concrete style were less upset after a later failure in the lab (Watkins et al, 2008). The groups were small and the setting artificial, so read it as a direction: thinking that moves toward "what now?" tends to leave you steadier than thinking that circles "why?".

The two minutes are a practical starting point, not a tested number.

How this fits the Reduce worry and overthinking program

In the 1h Protocol to Reduce Worry and Overthinking, these three questions are the two-minute test. They appear in chapter 2 for any worry you're not sure you can act on, and again for people whose loop is the Replay, where going over it for two minutes, then asking the questions, decides whether to keep thinking or park it for your worry slot. No timer? The program suggests ten slow breaths, then the questions. André's video is on the program's listening list, and the first chapter is free.

Source: Éditions de L'Iconoclaste with France Culture, Christophe André video on going over things, 26 Jun 2018 Research: Watkins et al, 2008 · Schwenkenbecher with Ehring, 2024