Rumination

A Perfect perpetual loop 

There is a thought in your head, and it never seems to go anywhere. It just seems stuck and repeating in an endless loop. Rumination is like jogging in place instead of moving towards a destination. By definition, the word rumination repeatedly and often goes over in mind, casually and slowly. A similar explanation is Obsession Compulsive Disorder (OCD).

Repetitive thoughts often compared to be an obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Rumination carries slight differences in being fixated on problems and feelings but taking no action.

“The distinctions between obsession and Rumination are subtle. Obsession and Rumination both stem from similar “concerns about control and uncertainty” (“Rethinking Rumination”). The difference lies in the balance between uncertainty and defeat. “- When Depression Meets OCD: Understanding Rumination

It sounds pretty bad to be ruminating on anything based on the explanation of it. The causes of these thoughts are not on purpose. Sometimes, believing if we keep thinking of it, we may have some self-discovery or insight into our lives or problems. Other times, we are reflecting on our past trauma and reliving those moments, or facing current stressors of our control and concerning ourselves over it. Rumination’s typical characteristics are personality traits of being perfect, acting neurotic, and excessive relationships with others.

Perfectionism

We are not perfect beings, and perfectionism is the desire to appear or attempt to be accurate. Even the ideology of possibly reaching perfection is perfectionism.

Neuroticism

Being called overdramatic is often heard in conversations, “You’re dramatic!” Neuroticism is the defining word of physical, emotional, or mental drastic or irrational reactions. On an autonomous, unconscious effort overreacting is a defensive, coping mechanism to anxiety.

Excessive Overvalue

Good friends are hard to come by, overvaluing relationships with others interprets relationships differently. When we make excessive personal sacrifices to maintain relationships, even when they are not to our favor, this can lead to repetitive thoughts and problems without resolution.

Why is Rumination dangerous? 

Lingering loops, like broken records, are found in both depression and anxiety. Consider how often, when we finally realize we are sinking in depressing thoughts, there is a sense of worthless or not good enough. Ruminating challenges our rational, analyzing, and creates anxiousness in our life.

There is nothing new we learn if we become stuck. Being blindly focused instead of zooming back and reflecting, traps our frame of thought. Believing we can ruminate our trauma, forces us to relive our stresses out of our control.

“Sometimes reflection on past issues can help, but Rumination is where this becomes unhelpful. It usually won’t offer new insights, will often focus on a narrow focus instead of the bigger picture, and can exacerbate our negative emotions.” — Attuned Psychology

Some steps to counter ruminating on thoughts

1. Break the loop
Stop ruminating on negativity to trigger the thoughts. Block the beginning of these loops by throwing distractions to yourself. Interference to your mind will pull you out of the quicksand of looping in these negative thoughts.

Use positive triggers that can free yourself. Having a support group of friends and family can lead you to more encouraging thoughts. You are encouraging yourself to remember the “good times,” your attention shifts to a different outlook, a more positive memory.

The sensation of our senses can unlock the power to break the hypnosis of the repetition of our thoughts. A particular smell from your childhood can carry you back to a time when you had fewer concerns. Favorite music or a specific song can remind us of a magical time we experienced. Accessing skills like meditation can bring us vivid awareness of our senses.

2. Assess
Get going. Design a plan and steps to address your issues of falling into this cycle of thinking. Organize step by step what you are going to do when you discover yourself stuck.

If thoughtful planning is not enough, write it out. Physically invest in laying out steps to acknowledge your Rumination and what you are going to do. The process of having a blueprint of dismantling these looping thoughts disrupts the cycle.

This layout doesn’t have to be perfect. If it seems too perfect, mess it up, because having a concept of the ideal solution is unrealistic. Setting yourself up with attempting to have the perfect answer for Rumination leads to falling short on your goal. When you fall short, you trip back into ruminating about your failure. Small steps will lead you to your victory over these cyclical thoughts.

3. Move
Enough talk now. Place your plans into action. Take a step forward into following your outline to addressing the problems. Part of the issues with inaction is the feeling of our of control. Take control by making decisions. Small decisions lead to more accessible, more significant choices. If it is the wrong decision, it is okay. We combat the concept of being perfect at each step. Shattering the pattern of thoughts that trap ourselves is the goal of surpassing ruminating.

I am not perfect, sometimes I forget. I tend to relive my trauma to find a solution or reason for who I am. While I am not an expert, I have had an imperfect past. I deal with issues every day and have triggers that pull me back to my loops. I look to these steps that have worked for me and hope they lead you from being stuck.