Rumination Defined
Most people can relate to having a thought, song, or idea stuck in their head and ruminating on it for longer than they’d like to. We refer to it as an earworm when it is a song and is typically a joyful experience. It’s a much less pleasurable feeling known as rumination when it’s a thought, especially a disturbing negative one. Rumination is described as indulging in a negative thinking cycle that repeatedly repeats in the mind without ever concluding. The behavior habit can be upsetting, challenging to break, and unusually involves reinforcing a negative idea or attempting to fix an elusive issue. It may manifest as worrying about something that will happen in the future, repeating an instance from the past, or trying to forecast how something will turn out. Sometimes it’s just a case of going around in circles with the same idea. Rumination has detrimental effects on one’s mental health because it typically takes up a lot of time and emotional energy.
One of the co-occurring symptoms of anxiety disorders and depression is ruminating. Rumination is commonly centered on feelings of inadequacy or worthlessness in depressed persons. It frequently serves as the main symptom of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). People often become trapped when ruminating on an anxiety-related topic because the ideas urge searching for solutions to unanswerable questions and truths to unknowable truths.
Why Ruminate?
Rumination is compulsive when it comes to OCD. By definition, a compulsion is a behavior that is employed to lessen the misery brought on by unwanted, obsessive thinking or preoccupation. Although compulsions frequently contribute to the long-term maintenance of OCD, they may assist decrease distress temporarily. Because individuals mistakenly believe that compulsions must be acts or behaviors that are visible, like washing hands or retracing steps, ruminating is frequently misinterpreted and avoids being classified as a compulsion. On the other hand, ruminating is a mental drive that is wholly internal and hence invisible to others. So, for instance, someone with contamination OCD could feel compelled to constantly wash their hands if they experience an intrusive thought that something is filthy (an observable action).
Both are compulsive behaviors that develop in response to intrusive thoughts and attempt to “fix” the issue that thought’s presence has brought about. On the other hand, if a person has OCD with existential concerns and has a persistent idea that life is pointless, their compulsion may be ruminating, which would sound like, “how can I find more meaning if nothing has any purpose? Why bother doing anything at all if nothing is meaningful? Why are we living at all? (Internal process that is not visible).
Rumination is intended to solve an issue, but because it may be so challenging to break free from compulsion, it eventually becomes a problem in and of itself. Additionally, ruminating can occasionally feel out of control, as if it is simply happening, even though it is by definition a behavior or action in which the ruminator is engaging. This information helps manage and ultimately minimize rumination.
Rumination is an internal mental compulsion that cannot be seen in exterior behaviors. It can be challenging to identify and cure since it necessitates a good deal of awareness and insight into the individual indulging in it. People who ruminate frequently claim that they are unaware of what they are doing until they have gone a long way down the rabbit hole and are uncomfortable with where they are. The treatment of this poses significant difficulties. You can learn techniques to lessen rumination from a qualified therapist who can assist you in recognizing the behavior as such.
What to do?
Being willing to stop the cycle of ruminating requires awareness of the problem. Rumination can be treated in and out of the OCD environment, which is much easier than one might imagine. Understanding the distinction between “having a thought” and “actively thinking” is crucial. Whether desired or not, a thought is a limited entity and a single instance of time. The act of actively thinking, or rumination, on the other hand, involves taking that notion, evaluating it, and revisiting and engaging with it again. Imagine that a thought is a can of paint. The two options are to see it, notice it, and still go past it, or to see it, be curious about the color and wonder how it will appear on the wall, open it, and begin applying to the wall (this is active engagement). Without consciously thinking about it, a notion can still exist in mind. One can notice the paint and have questions in their head, but they may choose to walk past it and focus on something else.
Decreasing Rumination
1) Determine the theme(s) of ruminative thoughts (for example, concerns about social anxiety)
2) Recognize the theme(s) more quickly; acknowledge that there is no known solution, that the problem is one you choose not to attempt to solve, and that doing so has not alleviated your anxiety but instead only served to maintain it (e.g., “This is a familiar pattern; I tend to over analyze previous social situations. I can’t possibly know what someone else was thinking, therefore reliving this isn’t helpful”).
3) Realize that rumination is NOT the solution. Rumination is the process of repeatedly considering, evaluating, and replaying events without creating an action plan or experiencing a sense of closure. Problem-solving and planning are active coping mechanisms. If you felt some closure, you wouldn’t need to keep thinking about the same subject. Rumination deceives you into thinking you are preparing or doing something beneficial, which temporarily makes you feel relieved, but we all know in the long term that this is not the case.
4) Distract to divert attention away from the current mental process. People are less inclined to ruminate if their mind is engaged in anything else. Thoughts won’t consciously change course on their own; one must actively choose. Since most people find comfort and benefit in ruminating because they typically believe they are close to the solution or that continuing to overthink helps them in some way prepare, this can be challenging at first. You don’t have to change your thinking; you decide to quit ruminating (although this is easier). You have the option to forgo problem analysis and solution-seeking.
5) Be prepared for it to happen repeatedly. Although the questions are intriguing and alluring, you don’t have to fall for the trap. Rumination is ultimately a decision, and anxiety and melancholy are attention-hungry conditions that frequently recur.
6) Because we are aware that outlawing something frequently has the opposite effect and merely increases our want to engage in it, the more we try to avoid thinking about it, the more it will be on our minds. As a result, sometimes allotting time for contemplation at the end of the day can enable space for assessing issues without letting them dominate. A timer is set for 15 to 30 minutes to provide for scheduled worry time each day. Planning an activity for when the timer rings can help you avoid getting sucked into your thoughts and make stopping more manageable.
One must be willing to participate in ruminations. It is something someone does to themselves; it doesn’t happen to someone. It is feasible and possibly more straightforward than you think to regain control over your thoughts and break free from rumination with the assistance of a certified and licensed therapist. Please call Connected Care Behavioral Health LLC at 443-219-9236 to speak with one of our OCD/anxiety specialists. We’re here to assist you in ending your ruminations and taking back your life.