Rumination And Mental Health: How Ruminating Affects You
Rumination generally refers to having repetitive, obsessive, anxious thoughts, which can be a symptom of various mental health disorders. While rumination can be unpleasant to experience, there are often effective methods to break the cycle of obsessive thinking and reduce distress. For example, you might make a plan to address the thoughts and take action, check and question the rationality and accuracy of the thoughts, meditate, and work on your self-esteem. It’s often helpful to attend therapy sessions with a licensed mental health professional as well, and you may choose to do so online or in person.
What is rumination?
Merriam-Webster defines rumination as “obsessive thinking about an idea, situation, or choice, especially when it interferes with normal mental functioning, specifically: a focusing of one's attention on negative or distressing thoughts or feelings that when excessive or prolonged may lead to or exacerbate an episode of depression”.
Why do people ruminate?
Psychological health effects of rumination
Rumination often accompanies trauma. As the mind processes the shock of things it may not have been prepared to accept, it may repetitively play back parts of the memory to find an alternative to the facts. The mind may fear the possibility of reliving the trauma in everyday activities, even when there is no threat.
Breaking this cycle of negative thoughts can be possible. A licensed mental health professional who is trauma-informed may guide you through ways to interrupt and manage the thoughts that can stem from trauma.
Rumination can have a direct impact on your mental health. Even for people who don’t have conditions such as mood disorders or anxiety disorders, ruminating can cause stress and feelings of anxiety.
Rumination may also cause or worsen insomnia. People who ruminate may find themselves unable to sleep because their minds are bombarded with repetitive thoughts. Rumination can interfere with concentration, frequently making it difficult to study or leading to poor performance in the workplace. While these effects can be distressing, there may be ways to stop experiencing such thoughts and begin to feel better.
Depression
Ruminating can be closely associated with depression and anxiety. With rumination, repetitive thoughts can make concentrating on other stimuli very difficult. If you’re anxious, you may repeatedly think about everything that could go wrong. This can make you feel more anxious. If you’re depressed, you might repeatedly think negative thoughts, potentially triggering greater anxieties and their associated memories and feelings.
Obsessive compulsive disorder
How you can break the cycle
Identifying and understanding rumination as a negative process that may impact your daily life can be the first step to breaking the cycle. If you enter a cycle of ruminating, it can be important to identify it quickly and try to stop it before it becomes more intense and frequent. Below, find several strategies you may wish to implement to help break the cycle and stop rumination from interfering with your life.
Make a plan to address the thoughts
Take action for your mental health
Check your thoughts
Sometimes, rumination occurs when something distressing has happened that we feel responsible for or when we feel we’ve made a mistake. The thoughts may not be completely realistic. For instance, you might have made a mistake, but it’s likely the mistake wasn’t as significant or had as great an effect as you’re imagining. Keeping the thoughts in perspective and trying to focus on reality or on realistic alternatives can help you disrupt the negative thought cycle.
Consider your goals and readjust if necessary
Sometimes, striving for perfection or having an inflexible view of your future can cause you to experience rumination. Taking some of the pressure off yourself and being willing to consider other options for the future may help you feel better and reduce your stress.
Try meditation
Identify factors that cause you to ruminate
Try paying attention to the circumstances when you find yourself in a repetitive cycle of thoughts. Were you especially stressed when you were ruminating? Were you tired? Did you read about something or see something online? Did something happen to a loved one? If you can identify triggers, you may be able to manage them to avoid falling into the cycle of rumination again. Being aware of them can help you understand why and when you’ve started ruminating, which can offer some relief and insight into what’s happening.
Work on your self-esteem
Sometimes, rumination occurs when a person has self-doubt or is questioning their strengths. By boosting your self-esteem, you may find that you feel safer in how you can handle life’s challenges. You might try identifying your strengths and building on them instead of dwelling on self-blame for your ruminating thoughts.
Change your routine
There may be relationships between your regular habits and daily rumination. For example, you may find yourself in the habit of ruminating in bed at night as you mentally replay stressful events from the day. To break the cycle, you might try a different bedtime routine, such as going to bed at a different time, or trying a new form of relaxation before bed, such as a warm shower, reading something calming, or listening to a guided meditation.
Changing your meal times or the time at which you exercise may also help. Something that changes your routine (but remains healthy) can help you weaken the cycle of rumination or act as a distraction. A quick physical change can also help, like getting a new pillow or pillowcase, which can be both comfortable and engage your senses in a new way. After all, if you’re focusing on how it feels to sleep on a soft, new pillowcase or are engaged in a book, you might give your mind a break from ruminating.
Set aside time for worrying
Mental health care for rumination: Considering cognitive behavioral therapy
If rumination has been troubling you consistently for more than a few days or weeks, you may find it helpful to seek support. A licensed mental health professional can help you as you work on clarifying and understanding your anxieties or determining whether your negative thoughts have become a fixation in your life.
When you are ruminating, cognitive behavioral therapy can help
A therapist can help you sort through these thoughts and feelings, look at each one objectively in a healthier way, and find ways to manage them through approaches like cognitive behavioral therapy. If your rumination is related to an anxiety disorder, depression, or another mental health concern, professional help can be a positive step on the road to finding effective treatment and changing your thought patterns for the better. Research, such as this study from Dr. Watkins at the University of Exeter, has confirmed that methods such as cognitive behavioral therapy are especially effective for patients who have both anxiety and a mood disorder.
Addressing rumination with online therapy
Takeaway
Frequently asked questions
What is an example of rumination?
Some examples of rumination may be if you keep thinking about a mistake you made in the past or relive an argument and continue to think about what you could have done or said differently to change the outcome. Rumination may focus on negative events or traumatic events of the past, and some people may be more likely to engage in it when they are in a depressed mood.
Is rumination a sign of mental illness?
Rumination itself is not a mental illness, but it can be a feature of several mental health conditions and other disorders, including OCD, PTSD, eating disorders, depression and anxiety.
What is the difference between ruminating and thinking?
The main difference between thinking and rumination may be that thinking is more solution-based while rumination is obsessive, excessive, repetitive, and generally solution-focused. Ruminations are usually negative and may focus on self-criticism, past failures, or things out of your control.
Is ruminating a feeling?
Why do people ruminate?
Is ruminating good or bad?
In most cases, there may not be any benefits when a person ruminates on the same thought repeatedly. It may be closely linked to anxiety and depression and can make you more anxious or more depressed. Rumination can have other forms of negative effects, too, affecting sleep and concentration.
There is such a thing as positive rumination, which is cyclical and repetitive thinking centered on positive states of mind. Studies show that positive rumination may increase positive affect and may buffer or defense against depression, but more research is needed.
Is rumination the same as obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)?
Rumination is not the same as OCD, but people with OCD and intrusive thoughts may engage in rumination.
Is rumination a symptom of ADHD?
Some research shows that people with ADHD may engage in rumination, but it is not an official part of the diagnostic criteria in the DSM-5.
Does rumination go away?
Rumination may not go away on its own, but it can improve and may stop altogether with treatment.
How do I stop myself from ruminating?
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