Dr Justine Anne Collins

Dr Justine Anne Collins

Clinical Psychologist

How rumination can ruin your life

“And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul” (John Muir)

Do you find yourself repeating the same problems over and over again?

Do you find yourself reliving some of the most distressing moments of your life?

Then you may be causing yourself unnecessary stress and unhappiness .

Recently researchers have started to look at how people experience personal growth and psychological well-being after traumatic episodes. What they found was that rumination was the key to growth and well-being! That is right, rumination was found to be a positive moderator between distressing life experiences and optimal well-being. However, this concept of rumination is specific. Researchers have defined four different types of rumination:

  1. Intrusive rumination
  2. Intentional rumination
  3. Rumination of the experience
  4. Rumination about the meaning of the event

These different types distinguish between brooding and reflecting on our experiences.

Brooding, or what we typically think of as ruminating, is the repetition of intrusive thoughts about unpleasant or distressing experiences. These repetitious, intrusive thoughts often lead to other psychological health issues (i.e., depression and anxiety). In clinical cases brooding behaviour has also been linked to suicide and suicidal thoughts.

Antithetically, self-reflection, or intentional rumination about the meaning of an event, is about understanding the larger implications of an experience, and the positive efforts we use to explain, cope with, resolve or explore the experience or ourselves. This type of self-reflection has been evidenced to have a strong association with personal growth and optimal well-being.

10 ways to stop ruminating

  1. Practice mindfulness – bring your awareness to the present moment, letting go of those ruminative thoughts, by using your senses.
  2. Go for a walk (or other exercise).
  3. Take yourself to a place of nature and focus on being free in the present.
  4. Talk to someone about the recurring thoughts.
  5. Reflect on what you learned from the experience (what did it teach you? How will you use this knowledge in the future?).
  6. Try to determine if you are going over the same thing, but without making any progress. Ask yourself the question – is this repetition? If it is, realise that it is purposeless and let it go.
  7. Try thinking about what happened from another perspective.
  8. Write down what happened from an objective point of view.
  9. Try to write down some more pleasant thoughts or ideas.
  10. Repeat powerful (and personally meaningful) affirmations (for example ‘I am the architect of my own life’).

*If you find yourself ruminating and obsessing over things, seek professional advice.

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