Matthew,
I didn't get to your post until just now, however I would still like to comment.
I went through a similar phase during my sophomore year of college. Actually the way you describe it is better than I have described it myself. The key components were being overanalytical and indecisive. I would paralyze myself over even the smallest of decisions, attempting to acquire and assess all the data before taking action on anything.
You could forget about the big ones. For example, if I was interested in a girl and wanted to call her, I would spend hours plotting out all the possible lines of conversation in my head, deciding beforehand exactly how I would respond in every situation. So what would end up happening is that I would spend all this time planning everything out and then when the moment came it would go nothing like my plans. The strange thing is, at the time, I had no idea that this was not natural.
As with you, I was raised in an environment where my value was determined almost completely on my intellectual ability. Having the "right" answer was of prime importance, because either I was right, or I was an idiot. And nobody likes idiots. Feelings and emotions weren't something that were discussed in my family, other than in short outbursts of anger. Creativity wasn't particularly promoted either. Even when I took piano lessons, they were of a very rigid, classical style.
Anyhow my point is that there is hope, and that you may be relieved and / or incredulous to hear that there's nothing you need to do. If fact, I would suggest doing a lot of nothing, as often as possible. Slow down. Take a walk. There is nothing wrong with you. You are just going through a transition phase. On the other side you will find yourself much more in touch with your feelings and intuitions, and you will find that you no longer consider the intellect to be the epitome of human development. This is all very good.
The challenge for you will be not to think about what you feel, not to analyze it, and even not to analyze your analysis when it occurs. Focus on the WHAT and not the WHY. Use your mind simply to make observations, rather than to come up with the latest theory on your life.
Meditation is a very good tool to help with this process. Yet even then your mind will try to distract you by obsessing over it. Am I doing it right? Is there a better way to do this? Maybe I should buy 20 books on meditation and read them, because if I'm going to commit to something like this, I want to make sure that I'm not wasting my time. And so on. And so on.
For me, I took a lot of walks. I walked everywhere. I probably spent several hours a day walking. I didn't own a car at the time, but I had previously bicycled everywhere. Always rushing around seeing how fast I could get from one place to the next. So I retired my bicycle and started walking. No headphones. Just me and the pavement. I spent a lot of time focusing on my feet. That seemed to help.
Another thing that I did was smoke massive amounts of marijuana. I'm not telling you this as a recommendation, as there obviously are health concerns, and most sources agree that it interferes with spiritual development. I'm just including it here for the sake of completeness. Your choices are your own to make. It was truly heroic amounts. Enough to get past the stage of super-theorizing which happens to most when they are stoned, to the point where my mind would simply not work properly. I couldn't follow a thought long enough to have any idea where it was going. So I just let them go.
You can reach the same results in a healthier manner through meditation. I suppose if I had approached meditation with the same diligence as I did my drug habit I would have had even better results. Now it is clearer to me how truly unimportant my thoughts are, and that the concept of "mine" is just as ridiculous when applied to thought as anything else. Thus it is easier for me now to enter into a meditative state, and I don't require any substance to do so.
In any case the last thing you need to be doing right now is worrying about what is "wrong" with you, or trying to fix anything. Let me assure you that you are perfectly fine, and more importantly, that you are well-loved. The sooner you let that sink in at an emotional level, the better you will feel. Feeling is the key here. For all your mind's wonderful abilities to discern the many possibilities of life, it is basically incompetent as to determine probabilities. There is always another thing to be factored in. That's where your feelings come in. They function much, much, better in that respect.
Eventually, you will come to a state where you still use your mind for observation and identification of the choices that are available to you in a given situation. It will continue to serve you well in this regard. But as far as actually making the choice is concerned, you must learn to trust your feelings. Trying to make a decision with your mind is like trying to eat with your feet. It's just not designed for that function.
One additional suggestion I would make is to go get a deck of Rider-Waite tarot cards and lay out the swords and the cups on a table or the floor from ace to king one above the other. These two suits tell the story in symbological terms of the marriage of the mind to your feelings and will assist you greatly.
Hope this will be of service to you.
Matthew
EDIT: Just read Zarg's post above. Yes, taichi, qigong, and other forms of movement and breathwork are extremely helpful. The dietary recommendations are also good. You might also want to try supplementation with B12 and magnesium. Herbs such as chamomile and passionflower are useful either as teas, or in tincture. Also you can use essential oils such as lavender or sandalwood. Acupuncture and homeopathy can also be of service, however you should seek out a trained professional for those.
It is not for us to understand love, but simply to make space for it.
